Bill and Eric's Excellent Adventure
by hdgcat
Summary: Preteen foster kids Bill and Eric are best friends. They discover the power of a blond ponytail and a training bra at summer camp. CH's world/AH w/vamp guest appearances
1. Chapter 1

As usual Charlaine Harris owns everything, I own nothing,nada,zip.

A/N : This was almost an AH story,but vampires Eric and Pam decided to make an appearance. So there will be two Eric's for a brief period. Don't let it confuse you. It doesn't mean anything existential or profound. I just thought it would be funny. The main characters are humans who live in Charlaine's universe where the vampires do exist, but I've been deliberately fuzzy with the timeframe because I wanted this story to be general in nature and not a pop culture story. And for the sake of this story, none of the children will have last names.

And thank you so much for taking the time to read my little ditty. I appreciate all reviews both positive and negative, so I can improve my writing. I am grateful for any feedback I receive.

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"Are you sure this is a good idea Eric"?

Eric pursed his lips in annoyance. This was the sixth time Bill had asked the question and they weren't even halfway to the strip mall yet. "We'll be fine Bill, I'm telling you, we get there, get someone to buy the shirts, than we leave, no sweat. Why are you making such a big deal out of this"?

"Because, it's I don't know, VAMPIRES! Come on Eric, what if something happens"? Bill's eyes were getting wider as he started working himself into a tizzy, especially since his friend was being so blasé about it.

The two boys were a picture in opposites sitting at the back of the Shreveport city bus. Eric was the older by almost two years, pushing fourteen and hitting that wonderful landmark known as the teenage growth spurt complete with unending appetite. His voice had started bottoming out although it crackled when he got excited. His tall, lanky frame stuck out in all directions, arms and legs in constant motion from a teenager's typical nervous energy. Big blue eyes pierced everything they saw, reading and evaluating as they went. Blond hair glowed like an angel's halo on his head from his early summer buzz cut. A shield of bravado, a ready wit, and some sports ability allowed him access to certain levels of teen social strata that someone with his background normally wouldn't have.

His best friend Bill was twelve and on the cusp between childhood and teen. His dark brown hair and quiet manner contrasted with his friend's feisty energy quite dramatically. Narrow brown eyes sat shadowed in his slender face with a melancholy born of seeing too much in his tender years. Pensive and thoughtful, his intelligence made him a teacher's favorite but also attracted the wrath of other kids. A tendency towards crying when he was angry had earned him the unfortunate nickname of "Crybaby Bill". It didn't help that he wasn't especially big for his age, had a problem with nosebleeds and a long list of allergies, including but not limited to pollen, ragweed, dust, cats, penicillin, various nuts, shell fish , bee stings, and bleach. Getting shots on a regular basis helped and he carried an Epi-pen just in case.

The two boys lived in the same foster group home with four other boys. They also shared classes at school since Bill's IQ had tested so high he had skipped two grades. Their relationship was built on both the practical and an emotional understanding. Eric was no dummy, but his dislike for sitting still precluded him ever receiving top marks. Bill helped him turn his C's and B's into mostly B's and the occasional A. In most other ways Bill looked up to Eric and followed where he led. Eric was the idea man and Bill always worked out the details. He played the deputy to Eric's sheriff. In turn, Eric was fiercely protective of Bill and made sure that he was not targeted by those insecure bullies who populate schools everywhere.

At this moment, they were on a mission. An argument with some other boys about guts and vampires had turned into a dare that Eric refused to back down from. He had declared that vampires didn't scare him at which point a challenge of "prove it" had been thrown at him. Bill had gone to the library, looked up Fangtasia's location on their computers and the buses required to get there. The next day they grabbed their skateboards, and money and off they went. Bill had actually called ahead of time to find out how much the shirts cost to make sure they had enough. The vampire who answered the phone had scared him so badly he tried to talk Eric out of the whole idea, but that wasn't happening. Now here they were on the second of three buses and Bill was bringing it up yet again.

Eric sighed "Bill, tons of people go there every night, get loaded, dance, all that shit and they come out alright. Then they go back and do it again. All we're doing is buying a couple shirts. I'm sure the vampires like money just like everybody else. Besides it'll just be turning dark when we get there, so we'll get back home before curfew. And won't it be the shit when we show those losers our Fangtasia shirts? And when we go to summer camp we'll wear them the first day! Won't that be great"?

He needed Bill to get with the program because when it came down to it he was a little scared too. He just wasn't going to admit it, neither to Bill nor himself.

"Well, okay, but if some vampire bites me I'm going to be pretty fucking pissed at you "Bill replied, his manner becoming more accommodating.

"Why would they want a skinny little faggot like you Bill"? Eric laughed. Bill smiled back, they were back on comfortable footing, teasing each other and showing teamwork.

The bus came to a squealing stop. Eric got to the opening door first, threw his skateboard down to the ground, jumped down on it and took off with Bill close behind. They raced each other down the sidewalk, ignoring a few annoyed pedestrians who shook fists at them as they sped past. The bus that went directly to the strip mall was pulling up just as they rolled into the stop.

Once seated, they started into one of their favorite topics of discussion. Who was the better superhero Batman or Superman? Bill liked Batman's intelligence, cool gadgets and lets face it having your very own Batmobile parked in a Batcave appeals to everyone right?

Eric rolled his eyes, and had his typical one word answer for why Superman kicked Batman's ass.

"Flying"!

"That's your answer to everything. If Superman is so damn smart how come he's always getting caught with Kryptonite, huh?

"But he always gets away. That's all that counts. And he gets the bad guys and he tells the truth. Batman is a fucking psycho compared to him"

"He is not. He can't help it his mom and dad got murdered. He wants to help people too. He just doesn't have special powers, so he has to use his brains instead" Bill started to get a little flush, as he always did when defending his hero. "And Superman lies when he pretends to be Clark Kent and dates Lois Lane"

"Hey, he's a guy, he wants to get some" Eric made a hand motion he'd seen the older boys use in similar discussions.

"It's still not right" Bill huffed.

"Hold up! I think we're almost there" Eric leaned toward the window peering out at the upcoming buildings.

The bus slowed down as it neared the strip mall's stop. The sun was low on the horizon, and all the stores were still open at this point. Fangtasia opened once it got dark, so typically it was open when its neighbors were closed, much to its neighbor's relief. It's jazzy neon sign on the end was still dark. People were coming out of the Sam's Club with their giant shopping carts piled high with supersized bulk goods. The Toys r Us was still lit up, so Eric and Bill skateboarded over to kill some time. They perused the newest video games that they would never be able to afford, but had heard about. The home they lived in had some older gaming consoles set up, but the games were locked up at night. Store employees were keeping an eye on them which was a drag, so they decided to go wait in Fangtasia's parking lot.

Bill scrunched down sitting on his skateboard, watching Eric try some spins and flips with his board. He laughed as Eric hit the gravel for the third time trying the same move, sending dirt and pebbles scattering everywhere.

"You need to give it up" he said. "Ms Jo is going to jump all over you if you get your legs fucked up again". Eric had outgrown all of his pants. They rode high over his ankles now and they weren't getting new clothes until school started. Most of the clothes they received were donated, hand me downs or purchased from Goodwill and the like. A new school year, Christmas, and their birthday was the only time they got to pick new clothes, usually from the local Walmart. Eric didn't like looking stupid, so he cut the lower part of the pants off to make long shorts. This left his lower legs bare and ripe for injury when he would wipe out on his skateboard.

The ones he was wearing now had been bluejeans once upon a time. An elaborate action scene was drawn on them in pen by Bill, with Superman flying into the air his cape swirling around him. When the scene started to fade, Eric would have him touch it up or add some more detail. Some other kids had thought the design was cool and asked Bill to do the same to their bluejean pants and jackets. Eric, ever on the lookout for money making opportunities had insisted they pay for it. That money was the fundsfor this little expedition. A faded red t-shirt that said "here comes trouble" and some sneakers completed his ensemble. Bill was dressed in last year's jeans with the knees torn out and his favorite batman shirt.

Watching the parking lot become more deserted as the surrounding shops started closing, Bill got an idea. "Let's go back to the employee entrance. Maybe we can just pay them, get our shirts and go home. If we miss that last bus we're screwed."

Eric nodded, than shouted "I'll beat you back there"! He took off on his board around the side of the building. Bill yelled back "You cheating shithead"! He chased Eric all the way there, but Eric had too big of a lead. They skidded to a stop near the back, laughing and started chasing each other around in the sickly glow of the buzzing overhead lights that were just coming on.

Having just tagged Bill as "it", Eric was running and dodging in tight circles away from him when he heard Bill give a cry. Turning around he almost slammed into a big leather clad chest.

There were two men who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere on the scene. Both had longish dark hair and leather vests with some type of wolf head on them. One had long sideburns and had his arm locked around Bill, practically lifting him off the ground as Bill kicked and struggled. The other had some type of stupid goatee that Eric was now viewing up close. Eric looked around, but the back part of the lot was completely deserted. They were on their own.

"Let him go"! Eric yelled, his fists clenched staring up at goatee man. A smile filled with malice was the reply. Eyes dark as pitch stared back. Then the man spoke.

"Hey there kid, if you and your little buddy there know what's good for you, you'll hand over your money right now"

Sideburns chimed in "Come on, we don't have all night" And he proceeded to use his spare hand to feel around Bill's pockets as Bill continued to squirm.

Eric was livid and totally not thinking. "I said LET HIM GO" !! He ran for sideburns to get him off Bill, but Goatee grabbed him before he could get there. Eric started kicking and his much larger frame and longer legs made it difficult for Goatee to hold him. As he twisted out of his grasp he managed to nail his fist right in the asshole's crotch.

"AAHHH!! You fucking little ……"!! Goatee staggered but stayed up and swung his fist into Eric's gut. Eric fell to the ground clutching his stomach, shocked from the pain. He could hear Bill crying out "Eric! Are you okay? ERIC "!!??

Suddenly everything seemed to spin and the graveled parking lot was getting closer. He could hear yelling and movement behind him but he was too dizzy to see.

Then it was quiet.

Bill ran over and crouched on the ground next to him with one arm around Eric's shoulders and his other hand on his head. He kept repeating himself much to Eric's annoyance. "Eric? Are you okay? Eric! Please tell me you're okay! Oh shit, please be okay! Are you alright? "

Taking a deep painful breath, Eric lifted his head from the rough ground and sat up still dazed. "What happened? Where are those guys"? He looked at Bill's frightened face which looked pale under the parking lot lights.

"Eric, you're not going to believe it, but …" Bill didn't get to finish. There was a soft thump behind them, then a deep voice asking "What are you boys doing here "?

The two boys turned and looked up…… and up. A very tall large man stood before them. He had long blond hair like a rock star and was wearing a black Fangtasia tshirt with black jeans and boots. He had extremely white skin and his large eyes stared down at both of them with an expression that could only be described as "unfriendly".

He spoke again, his tone more demanding. "I asked you a question. What are you boys doing on my property"?

That's when they noticed that the man had fangs.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

_Once again Charlaine Harris owns everything, I own nothing, nada,zip,zilch. _

_I have no beta so all mistakes are entirely my own. _

_Thanks so much for the kind reviews and encouraging pm's, I'm especially happy about all the alerts I'm seeing. It's great so many of you want to follow these two boys summer time adventure. I was worried there would be no interest since there was no promise of insane adult lemons in the offing. LOL! Since we're dealing with minors, I'm just not going there, HOWEVER, we are dealing with budding sexuality so there will be *ahem* lemon "drops" in the future. The T rating will be staying in place. _

_Reviews are welcome, both positive and negative. I have other stories in the offing and I'm trying to improve my writing. If anything seems wacked out or unclear, please let me know. And thank you so much for taking the time to read my story. _

_Now, lets see what Vampire Eric has to say. _

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The two boys sat and gaped at the big vampire, neither knew what to do or say. The vampire stared at them for a few seconds then impatiently stepped forward. Bill let out a tiny whimper and shrank next to Eric. Eric gave him one quick glance and noticed Bill's lips trembling, any minute he'd start crying or worse one of his infamous nosebleeds would start gushing down his face. He had to do something.

"We didn't do anything! Those guys attacked us and tried to steal our money" Eric exclaimed as he struggled to stand up with Bill half clinging half supporting him. It didn't matter, the blond vampire was so tall he towered over them anyway. He looked down at them practically snarling his long fangs looking absolutely HUGE close up.

"That wasn't my question. What were you doing here to begin with"?

Bill piped up his voice quavering a little "Sir, we came here to buy a couple Fangtasia shirts, that's all. We were just waiting until someone got here, so we could buy them then we were going to leave right away. We have to catch our bus to get home. Someone is waiting for us" He added, hoping to give the impression that there would be consequences and someone would come looking for them if they didn't make it back. The vampire affected a less aggressive stance which gave Eric some hope they'd get out of this alive. He was wondering what had happened to the two robber guys, but was afraid to ask.

"What are your names"? The vampire asked. Eric jumped in before Bill did something stupid like give their full names and addresses.

"I'm Eric, this is Bill" he gestured, as if it wasn't obvious with Bill huddling next to him.

A loud snicker came from behind them. They both jumped and Eric hunched ready for anything. It was a female vampire, she was just a little taller than Bill, very slender and pale of course with long blond hair. She was wearing some type of long black dress with lace that almost touched the ground and she seemed incredibly amused about something. Her fangs were slender points in her smiling mouth.

She looked at the other vampire and commented "What are the odds"?, then she snickered again. What was so damn funny? Eric thought. The big vampire seemed to give her a look, then she answered even though he hadn't said anything "They've been taken care of ". That didn't sound good. Eric assumed "they" referred to the guys who had attacked them, but he was still too scared to ask about them.

Then both vampires attention suddenly sharpened and looked next to Eric. He glanced back at Bill again.

Bill's nose had started one of its gushfests. There was bright red blood running down his face.

Oh shit.

Eric frantically looked around the dimly lit parking lot for anything to use as a weapon. Their skateboards were too far away. Where was a good piece of wood when you needed it? The big vampire was smiling now which didn't make him feel any more secure.

"You're injured, you boys need to come inside we have first aid supplies" he said. Yeah right, first aid? HA! More like sharp fangs and a big appetite. Eric tried to think of a way to say No Fucking Way without pissing off the vampire.

Then Bill blurted out "Excuse me sir, but you havn't introduced yourself yet" Eric couldn't believe this, Bill was bleeding all over the place and yet he had turned on his good little Southern boy manners which normally had adults eating out of his hand in ten seconds flat. Fortunately, it appeared the vampire was not immune.

"You are respectful of adults, excellent, you may call me Mr Northman." he said. There was another snicker from the female vampire behind them. Eric was really starting to not like her. Mr Northman glanced past their shoulders at her and added "You may call her Pam". His eyes seemed to crinkle a bit as the snickering died away.

"Ah, Mr Northman, we appreciate the offer, we really do, but um, we have to get back to catch our bus, so …." Bill's voice faded a bit as the vampire's face got a stern look.

"I wasn't asking" the vampire replied, his voice brooking no argument. He stepped to one side stretching out his long arm pointed toward the back entrance to the club. Eric didn't know what else to do. They couldn't fight or outrun the vampires. He looked down at his friend's bloody face, which was the very picture of panic, willing Eric to figure out something, ANYTHING other than walking into the dark doorway between two vampires.

He had nothing.

Sighing, he patted Bill's arm and said "It's okay Bill, let's get you all cleaned up". He held his head up and displayed confidence that he definitely did not feel. Walking slowly to show he wasn't trying to run, he picked up both their skateboards then came back over to where Bill was standing. They marched slowly after the tall vampire with the female following silently which was creepy as hell. Down the hallway they went, then to the right and into a regular looking office. It was actually kind of freaky since Eric pictured vampires hanging out in some Gothic type elaborate rooms like in the movies. Instead, this vampire's office had a regular boring desk with a computer, papers stacked in little piles, some shelves against one wall with supplies and a big leather sofa against the other. It was just so ….normal.

They sat down on the sofa where the vampire indicated and set their skateboards on the floor next to it. "Wait here" he said, then abruptly walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Eric, what are we going to do? Do you think he's going to …."

"Stop Bill, don't get yourself all worked up. Nothing has happened yet, maybe he's just going for the first aid stuff" Eric wanted so much to believe this.

"Did you notice there are no windows in here" We can't get out"!

"Shut up! It wouldn't matter anyway, it's not like we can outrun them. What happened out there anyway? I couldn't see shit" Eric asked.

Bill took a deep breath. He was trying to calm himself even as he looked a fright with blood still oozing down his face and dripping on his black shirt. Bill normally would have had his head tipped back by now and be squeezing his nose bridge to make it stop. But there was no way he was going to expose his neck like that around vampires. They might get ideas.

"Well, that guy was holding me and you were on the ground. The other guy hit you on the head"!

"That's why I got dizzy. Man, I didn't even realize I'd been clocked"

"I thought he was going to kill you Eric"! Bill's lips started to tremble again. Eric rubbed his back and shushed him a little. He had a lot of experience soothing others.

"Then what"?

"That big vampire flew down and he …"

"No fucking way! What do you mean he …flew….for real"?

"Yeah, he flew down just like Superman or something and grabbed the guy who was hitting you, then vanished! And then the guy who was holding me suddenly disappeared too"!

"You think that vampire bitch got him"?

Now it was Bill's turn to shush Eric. "They've got kickass hearing Eric! Don't say stuff like that. I've got to tell you something before he comes back. That guy got all our money".

"What"!

"I couldn't help it! He had my arms pinned. He got our money and our bus passes"

"Shit! How are we going to get home? And how are we going to explain why we're on the other side of town at a vampire bar"? Eric put his throbbing head into his other hand. They were going to be in so much trouble. They were lucky their slots for summer camp had already been allotted and paid for or they probably would have been pulled as a punishment. He wondered what had happened to the robber guys. The vampires could get their money and bus passes back easily. He was sure of that, but that depended on what the vampires were planning on doing with them. His heart sank at the possibility that the vampires had no intention of letting them go. No one would ever see him or Bill again. They hadn't actually told anyone where they were going, just that they'd be back by curfew which was fast approaching. It was bad enough that he would never get to grow up and get out of this backwards state and do something with his life, see other places. But getting his best friend dragged into this mess made it so much worse. He was wracking his brain for ideas when the door opened and the vampire came back in.

Eric felt a huge swell of relief when he saw that the vampire had an honest to god first aid kit in his hand. It was a white box the size of a laptop case with a big red cross on it. Pulling a chair up to the sofa, he sat down in front of the two boys. His fangs appeared to be pulled in which Eric took as a positive sign.

"Lean forward child" he gestured towards Bill who was slumping away. He seemed even bigger sitting down if that was possible. Bill let out a tiny cry as the vampire put one of his large hands on the side of his head and tilted it back as he leaned close. Eric straightened up with his fists clenched, ready for anything. "Stay calm" the vampire said. "I'm trying to see why your friend is bleeding so much. Not that I have any objections to bleeding in general" he smirked a little at his own joke.

Well, this was just great. They get beat up, robbed, all their money stolen, and now they were trapped in the office of a vampire who thought he was a comedian. Under normal circumstances Eric would have had a snappy and or rude comeback. But his survival instincts were kicking in and telling him to keep his mouth shut.

Bill's first instinct was, as usual, to answer an adult's question. "Um, Mr Northman sir, I'm just prone to nosebleeds. Sometimes I get them when I'm stressed or overheated. Nothing is really wrong, it'll stop after a few minutes"

"I noticed you were wearing that bracelet" the vampire said, pointing at the telltale stainless steel medic alert bracelet on Bill's wrist.

"Oh, that's for my allergies"

"I see" The vampire sat back gazing longingly at the blood on Bill's face and sighed. "It's a shame to let all that blood go to waste, but we do not feed on minors here" He sighed again. It was on the tip of Eric's tongue to say "Boy, what a bummer for you", but he didn't. Bill was shocked into silence at the vampire's casual statement about "feeding". The vampire stood up blocking the overhead light out for a minute as he pulled some cotton gauze and alcohol wipes out of the kit and handed them to Bill. "I assume you know what to do with these then"?

"Yes, sir" Bill looked as relieved as Eric had ever seen him and started wiping the blood off his face and stuffing the gauze up his nose to stop the blood flow. Then Eric realized Mr Northman had wiped his own hands with the wipes and had moved his chair in front of him.

Eric blurted out "I'm okay, I'm okay"!

"You are not. You took a blow to the head. Bend your head down so I can see the back of it" There was nothing else to do but follow the vampire's instructions. Eric bent his head forward until his eyes had a direct shot to the vampire's black jean clad knees and boots. He took a deep breath, trying not to freak out. Large cool hands trailed along his scalp.

"Did you ever lose consciousness? It did not appear so to me"

"No sir"

"Very good, it appears superficial. Hold still" Eric heard the vampire tear open another packet, then wet coldness against the back of his head. It was a good thing he had just had his hair buzzed short. Then another wad of gauze was pressed into his hand the vampire took it and pressed it against the back of his head tightly. "Keep the pressure there, it's clotting already" the vampire said. "And sit back up" Eric obeyed.

He flinched as those cool hands started feeling around his torso. The vampire grunted softly to himself and sat back. "Just some bruises and no broken ribs. There does not appear to be any internal injuries, which is good since taking you to the ER would present a problem for me" He said with an amused expression. Eric had a really good look at the vampires face for the first time. It was extremely white of course with long golden hair that fell loose touching his broad shoulders. He had very large blue eyes like a cold winter sky that even now were examining Eric up and down.

Then a loud growling noise erupted from Eric's stomach. The vampire laughed out loud. He laughed! "You are hungry"? He asked.

Eric wasn't sure what to say. They had eaten dinner right before taking off on their little excursion, but it didn't matter. He was always hungry. A bedtime snack for him was a couple more sandwiches and a big bowl of cereal. "Um, I'm okay, I'll eat when we get home" he said this with conviction like it was a foregone conclusion that the vampire was going to let them go. He sincerely hoped this was true.

The vampire turned his head and said clearly "Pam"? The office door flew open almost immediately which made the boys jump. She gazed avidly at Bill and his little pile of bloody wipes and gauze while answering "Yes"?

"Has the food for the employee's dinner been delivered yet"?

"Yes" she replied. "Just a few minutes ago as a matter of fact".

"Bring a couple of the sandwiches back here for our guests. And some Cokes to go with them".

The female vampire had a sudden displeased expression but it passed quickly. "Yes, Mr Northman "as if there was something very amusing about his name and she disappeared from the doorway.

Okay, things had taken a turn for the better, Eric thought. The vampire wouldn't be referring to them as "guests" if they were going to kill them and he certainly wouldn't be wasting his employee's lunches on them, right? He and Bill watched silently as the vampire pushed the chair back with a squeak, closed the first aid kit, and went to sit behind his desk. There was no clock in this office and he couldn't tell how much time had passed, their curfew had probably passed or was very close to it. If they didn't get back on time, it was going to be ugly. He took a deep breath.

"Excuse me, Mr Northman…um….its past our curfew. We really have to get home or we'll get in a lot of trouble. It's really nice of you to help us and thanks a lot for stopping those guys, but we really have to go". Eric waited to see how the vampire was going to take this. He could sense Bill holding his breath next to him.

The vampire tilted his chair back and put his boots on the edge of his desk as he appraised them. "Your parents would be very worried"? he asked. "I'm surprised they allowed you to come here on your own".

"Well, we knew they wouldn't like us coming here, so we didn't tell them ahead of time. We just left a note where we were going and when we'd be back" Eric lied thru his teeth.

"I don't appreciate you lying to me" the vampire said. His voice had dropped lower and he definitely sounded displeased.

Bill made a little panicked intake of breath.

At that moment, the female vampire Pam opened the office door and came in bearing a bag from a local sandwich place and a tray with Cokes on it. She held the bag like it was dead vermin and her expression said she not happy. Dropping the bag between the two boys on the sofa, she deposited the tray on a side table and made for the door.

"Thank you Pam" the big vampire said with a smile. All they heard was what sounded like a disgusted snort as the door was closed behind her. "Very well" he turned his head back to gaze at them. "You were about to tell me the truth about your parents knowledge of your coming here".

Bill couldn't stand it. Supposedly, vampires had all kinds of secret powers and they knew people from having watched them for so long. Not telling this guy the truth was only going to piss him off and then what? "I'm sorry sir…um…we don't have parents. We live in a group foster home" He ignored Eric's glare at him.

The vampire briefly looked surprised "You both are orphans? You live in a home with other orphans? "

Bill flushed a little as he replied "No sir, not exactly. My parents weren't able to take of me, so I was placed there"

"And it was the same for you"? He asked while looking back at Eric.

Eric squirmed a little in his seat. He hated talking about this. He hated people's pity and whispers when they found out why he was a foster. Giving Bill another glare for being such a blabbermouth, he answered "My dad died and my mom couldn't handle it. So I was taken away from her. We didn't have any close relatives and none of the others could take me".

The vampire's face remained still. "How did your father die"?

Eric looked down at Superman's swirling cape on his knee, tracing it with his finger. He knew the vampire was waiting for an answer. "My Dad died overseas in the Middle East. He was a marine".

"So your father was a warrior" the vampire stated.

Hearing the vampire's deep voice speak about his Dad with such a respectful tone made something turn inside Eric. No one had ever said it quite like that. They told Eric to be proud his father had died serving his country and war is hell blah, blah, blah. But that didn't change the fact his Dad had died far from home, on a dirt road, in a little desert country that could barely be seen on a globe.

He looked up at the vampire, not sure he was being serious. The vampire's face appeared carved from marble, his eyes seemed to be looking at Eric but not really seeing him. The vampire suddenly shook himself and gestured at the food Pam had brought. "Help yourselves to the sandwiches and the Cokes. I have a little work to do. Then you will be taken back home".

The boy's bodies flooded with relief. Eric was thinking that he'd rather these vampires not know where he lived, but there was no way around it. Plus, if they were driven straight home they might be close enough to curfew (since he still had no idea what time it was) that they wouldn't get in too much trouble. He wanted to ask about their bus passes and money, but didn't want to push his luck.

Rummaging through the bag, he pulled out a sandwich marked "chicken" for Bill since usually that should be safe enough and a one marked "pulled pork" for himself. There were bags of chips in there too. They each took one. Carefully spreading out the wax paper wrappings and napkins to make sure he didn't spill anything on the vampire's leather sofa, he handed a Coke to Bill and took a long thirsty draught from the other. He was already halfway thru his sandwich while Bill carefully checked his to make sure it didn't possess any offending allergy reaction causing ingredients. They sat silently chewing while listening to the vampire tapping on his computer in an annoyed fashion. Finally, it seemed he had had enough, he growled at the computer. Growled! Whatever was going on wasn't good.

"Pam"! He called sharply. The door swung open almost immediately once again. "Get Compton on the phone. I want to know why he isn't here yet" The female vampire nodded solemnly and had her cell phone to her ear in a blink as she went back into the hallway. They heard the clicking sound of her shoes going back and forth and her soft voice. The door reopened. "Well"? He asked. Pam hesitated, whatever she was about to say wasn't going to be well received.

"He said he should be here shortly and…." She paused.

"What"?

"He asked if you had tried…rebooting" she looked down as she said this.

A dark cloud settled on the big vampire's face as he said in his deep voice "Give me your phone Pam". She handed it to him faster than a hot potato. The vampire had the phone to his ear and was at the doorway so fast the boys both jumped in their seats. They could hear his angry voice "Compton! Of course I already tried rebooting, do you think I'm an idi…." They didn't get to hear the rest of it since Pam shut the door behind him.

"I don't envy that Compton guy" Eric said while he dug around for another sandwich in the bag.

"I don't know why he got so mad, rebooting is always the first thing you try if the computer is stuck" Bill stated sagely.

"Yeah, you're the expert, huh"? Eric had found a sandwich marked "roast beef". It was excellent, nice and juicy. And the long bun was toasted just right.

"I bet I could fix it"

Eric just snorted at that since his mouth was full again. Bill sat chewing. He was still working on his first sandwich. Taking a drink of his Coke, he got up and walked over to the vampire's desk. Eric blurted around the roast beef "What are you doing? Get the hell away from his desk"!

"I'm just looking"

"What if he comes back"? Eric hissed quietly. He'd set the sandwich down now that Bill had apparently gone suicidal.

Bill stood staring at the vampire's computer screen. The system was familiar. It was common office software with the usual quirks. There was an icon for some type of database marked with a blood drop that appeared to drip down the screen. He had no idea what that was. But it didn't seem to be the problem. His mind whizzed around and came up with the solution which was really quite simple.

"Bill, don't even think about it" Eric snapped as he watched the bottom of the door for any shadow to indicate the vampire was coming back.

Bill's hands reached out and gently stroked the keys. The computer started humming and the screen started opening the pages as it was supposed to. Suddenly, the printer kicked on, loudly clacking away. It hadn't occurred to him that the vampire may have been trying to print something as well. Bill jumped and started going back to the sofa to pretend he'd been there the whole time, but it was too late.

The door slammed open and the big vampire loomed in it like the jolly green giant only without the friendly smile and booming laugh. He scowled at Bill with his fangs oh so visible. "What are you doing with my computer '?

Eric jumped up and got in front of Bill. This was going to be so bad.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

_Once again, Charlaine Harris owns everything, I own nothing, nada, zero, zilch. _

_I have no Beta so all mistakes are my own. _

_Thanks so much for all the kind words. I'm glad you all are enjoying boy-Bill, boy-Eric interacting with vampire Eric and vampire Pam. We'll be going to camp in the next chapter and meeting Sookie as well as some of the other boys they live with and and such. _

_Reviews are welcome, both positive and negative. I have other stories I'm working on and I want my writing to get better not worse. If anything is confusing please let me know. I am grateful for all your feedback and appreciate you taking the time to read the boys little adventure! _

_Now, lets see what repercussions there are from boy-Bill messing with Vampire Eric's computer....._

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Eric stood there frozen, trying to stare down a vampire twice his size who was probably deciding whether to tear his body into 20 pieces or 10. They'd probably end up in a pile somewhere next to Goatee Man and Sideburn Man. Then the vampire vanished from in front of him and Bill gave a yelp. He whipped around to see the vampire was behind them, his long hair hanging over half his smiling face with his fangs shining white. Bill backed up and Eric, not knowing what else to do, wrapped his arms protectively around Bill. No one was going to hurt Bill without a fight.

Staring defiantly up at the vampire, Bill's body was shaking against his. He gripped tighter and declared "Bill didn't hurt anything. He fixed your computer. Look for yourself". Hopefully, what he was saying was true.

"Mr Northman, if you look, you'll see its working now" Eric was amazed Bill still had the power of speech considering how much he was trembling.

Tapping a couple keys softly with one finger, Mr Northman checked the screen he'd been on. Then he walked over to the printer to see what had popped out. The boys held their breath as they contemplated his broad back with the jazzy red script saying "The bar with the bite". He turned back around his blue eyes staring at Bill while stroking the warm sheets of paper.

"Interesting" he said. "How did you learn how to do this? Do they teach you this in school"?

"Um ..no ..ah "

"Bill's really smart" Eric interjected. "He remembers everything he reads and he likes computers. He's really good at figuring out stuff".

Show him, stupid vampire, getting his panties in a twist over nothing. Eric continued to meet the vampire's gaze with his own. The vampire's expression suddenly took on an amused aspect and he chuckled softly while shaking his head, his blond mane waving.

He pointed at the sofa. "Sit back down and finish your meal". He hadn't stopped smiling. His fangs had gone away again thank god. The boys eased back and plopped back onto the sofa. Eric took another drink of his Coke trying to get his heart to stop racing. The vampire sat back down behind his desk examining the forms that had printed out.

Then Pam opened the door again. "He said he's almost here, he'll be pulling into the parking lot in a few minutes".

"You have him on the phone"?

"Yes"

"Hand it to me" Pam handed him her cell phone again. This time the vampire was smiling as he spoke into it. "I want you to turn around and go home. The problem has been fixed by someone else".

Pause. "I don't care if you're pulling into the lot right now, come back tomorrow".

Pause. "I'm evaluating someone else to handle my computer needs".

Pause."No, it's no one you know". Mr Northman looked over at Bill and winked which made Eric almost choke on his sandwich.

Pause. "I think I'm capable of evaluating someone's competence myself, go home, I'll see you tomorrow".

And with that he clicked the phone shut laughing softly to himself as he handed it back to a smiling Pam.

Eric had never thought of vampires having a sense of humor. These two appeared to think they were a laugh riot. He just shook his head and dug around the bag for another sandwich. He found one marked "Italian". It seemed to have several different kinds of meats and cheeses on it. It was really good too with some kind of Italian dressing on it that gave it a tangy flavor. The two boys sat and munched away while the vampire signed some forms, then he got up and walked out, this time leaving the office door open.

Leaning over so Bill could hear him Eric said quietly "That was a really stupid thing to do Bill. What if you had done something to his computer" ?

"I knew I could fix it" Bill replied stubbornly.

Eric shook his head "Bill, I swear sometimes you're the stupidest smart person I've ever met".

The vampire walked back in, this time carrying two black plastic shopping bags with the Fangtasia logo in red on them. He placed a bag next to each of them. Their two bus passes were dropped next to them. He pulled out his wallet and said "Your money was ….damaged…so I hope this is acceptable to you" and he placed a crisp new bill in each boy's hand with a picture of Benjamin Franklin on it.

They sat and stared at the money. Neither had ever held a hundred dollar bill before. Eric stroked old Ben's face, this was crazy, they hadn't brought nearly this much with them. Maybe the vampire didn't realize it? As usual, Bill had to try and ruin it. "Mr Northman, we didn't have this much money, just so you know".

"I know that." He answered. "Consider it payment for services rendered and for your inconvenience suffered this evening. Maybe when you are old enough, you will come back and visit us again".

TRANSLATION: thanks for fixing my computer when my computer geek couldn't get his butt here fast enough, and for not threatening to call the police over getting attacked in my parking lot, and it would be great when you're no longer jailbait if you'd come back so I can suck your blood and do all kinds of kinky shit to you.

Eric got the vampire's message loud and clear. "Thank you sir"

"Yes, thank you Mr Northman" Bill added as he carefully folded the bill and put it in his pocket.

The vampire looked pleased and said "Consider the items in the bags as Fangtasia's gift to you. I'm taking you home now, so get your things together. Give me a moment, I'll pull the car around".

The boys looked in the Fangtasia bags while he was gone. They each had a Fangtasia hoodie, not a T-shirt, a hoodie! Eric's was red and Bill's was black They were soft, the cotton thick and obviously well made with the Fangtasia script on the back of each in an opposing color. "Proudly Made in the USA" the attached paper tag said.

"Whoa! This is so cool" Eric exclaimed. The hoodie's had been much more expensive than the shirts he remembered.

The vampire reappeared in the doorway. "Follow me" he said. They trooped out in a much happier fashion then when they went in, carrying their skateboards and Fangtasia bags. They passed the female vampire in the hallway.

Bill said politely "Thank you for everything Pam, I hope you have a nice evening" She put her hands on her hips and snorted, turning back towards the bar. Yeah, Eric thought, she is a bitch. They went out the door and under the parking lot lights which were now fully on, sat a red corvette polished so shiny you could floss your teeth in its reflection.

Eric and Bill looked at each other and grinned. Things were looking up. The vampire motioned for them to get in. Since it was a two seater of course, Eric got in first and Bill sat in his lap. Since most vampires were older than dirt, Eric hoped this guy was a good driver.

He really started hoping when they took off, as in TOOK OFF. It almost felt like he'd left a couple organs behind the way the car accelerated. It was beautiful inside, just like the pictures he'd seen in magazines since he'd never been this close to one in person. They sped thru the streets of Shreveport, with Bill giving directions as Eric gripped him tightly to keep him from being thrown around the inside of the car. The vampire told them they could play any radio station they wanted which wasn't something they were used to hearing from an adult. They put it on a local college rock station that always played cool music. The vampire didn't seem annoyed by the music and he asked questions about the bands and whether they were popular etc.

It was so normal, Eric almost started forgetting the guy was a vampire.

All too soon, (the car ride was fantastic and fast) they pulled into the front of the big house they lived in. Eric had never been so happy to see a building in all his life. It was mostly dark which meant the other boys were in bed and from the clock in the car it was way past curfew. As they got out, Eric was trying to think of what to tell Ms Jo who mostly certainly was still up and probably thinking about calling the police and reporting them missing if she hadn't already.

He turned to the vampire, "Thanks so much Mr Northman for everything. I really like the hoodie"

"Yes, thank you very much sir" Bill chimed in. The vampire nodded. They got out and started walking to the house when they realized he was following them.

"Um, sir it might be a problem if you come in." Eric said. He wasn't sure what to do if the vampire got pushy. What did he want?

"I will speak to the adult in charge and advise them it wasn't your fault you were late" the vampire said.

Why is it grownups only try to be helpful when you don't want them to? Bill wondered. Ms Jo would freak out if she saw a vampire on her lawn. She'd assume something bad happened to Eric and Bill (which wasn't entirely incorrect) and call the police. Then Mr Northman would get in trouble when he hadn't done anything wrong. Bill pulled the house key which was on a lanyard around his neck from under his shirt. He and Eric gave each other a look. They didn't know what to do and it was impossible to know how Ms Jo was going to react. He quietly put the key in the door hoping it wouldn't be heard.

No such luck.

The door flew open and Ms Jo was standing there with a mixture of anger and concern clearly written on her face. She was a stocky middle aged Black woman about Eric's height. She was wearing a pink bathrobe and had put her hair up in curlers for the evening. Peering at them over her reading glasses with her Oprah magazine clutched in one hand, she let them have it,

"Do you have ANY IDEA how late it is!?? I've been sitting here worried sick about you two! Its' bad enough no one knows where you went, but you come back after curfew and don't bother calling me to tell me you're okay?! Bill is that BLOOD on your shirt?! Eric, you had better not have dragged Bill into some of your foolishness or you're going to be grounded the rest of your natural days"! Her voice was getting louder as she waved her magazine under Eric's nose. She'd rapped Eric on the head with the magazine a couple times in the past when he'd gotten caught doing something he shouldn't. Oprah's magazine was heavy as hell and it hurt too.

Eric was trying to get a word in edgewise to try and create some type of explanation when Ms Jo suddenly noticed the vampire standing in the shadow next to the door.

"Who is this? Did he drive you home? Excuse me, but what have these two gotten.. "She didn't get any further. Suddenly, it was like all the energy drained out of her and her face went blank.

The vampire stepped forward looking directly at her "Be calm, the boys are okay, everything is going to be fine" .

Eric was shocked. He had no idea what the vampire was doing to Ms Jo, turning her into a zombie? As usual, he reacted without thinking. He jumped in front of the vampire and grabbed his shirt, looking up at him he hissed "Stop it! She hasn't done anything, she's just upset. Leave her alone"!

Bill jumped next to Eric practically in tears "Please, Mr Northman, she's a nice lady, she's just worried about us. Please don't hurt her." Ms Jo may have been strict and would go after you with her Oprah magazine if she caught you doing something stupid, but at least she cared. Bill had been around enough adults who didn't to know the difference.

"I know" the vampire responded, much to their surprise. The vampire noticed Eric's expression and said "She's angry because she's afraid for you. She cares for you even though you are not of her blood. Do not be upset, I'm not doing anything that will harm her. I'm simply calming her down and her memory of what time you got home will be muddled." He looked down at Eric's hand "and I'd appreciate it if you'd let go of my shirt".

"Er, sorry" Eric mumbled and immediately let go. The vampire simply smiled and turned back to Ms Jo who was still standing quite still with a blank expression.

Eric and Bill took a step back and watched as he murmured softly to Ms Jo for a minute, then her face relaxed and she turned around and shuffled back down the hallway. They could hear her bedroom door close. They stood there staring up at the vampire's pale face, his eyes were dark holes from the shadows being cast from the street. Eric could hear his own heartbeat and wondered if the vampire was about to put a whammy on him too.

Bill as usual, couldn't help himself. "Mr Northman, you're not going to do that to us too are you"?

"Some of the things that occurred this evening were unpleasant, were they not"? The vampire asked.

Typical Bill, he gave that some thought before answering. "I don't know, some of it was kind of cool".

Nodding, Eric agreed "I'd rather remember everything too" He looked up at the vampire wondering what he was thinking. If he didn't agree, there wasn't anything they could do about it.

Smiling down at them with a very satisfied expression he replied "Fair enough. She believes that you called earlier to let her know you'd be late and that you were being driven home by someone you knew. Details of your arrival will be unclear. She won't remember your appearance or me. You'll have to provide specifics".

With that, he turned away and started walking back down the path to his car. Then he stopped and looked back at them, his face a mask He said quietly,"If I were human, I'd be proud to have either of you as a part of my family".

And in a blink of an eye, he was in his Corvette and roaring down the street at subsonic speeds as the boys stood there with their mouths open trying to grasp what the vampire had just said.

But they had to go into the house and young bladders were calling.

Too much had happened and there was too much information to digest for a single evening. They turned around and very quietly made their way thru the old house, creeping up the stairs and to their room. After they both used the restroom, they changed into their pajamas and slipped into bed. The boy who shared their room, Bubba, slept like the dead so they didn't' have to worry about waking him. He was snoring peacefully away in his bed at the other end of the room.

Eric noticed that Bill had turned on the nightlight next to his bed, which he hadn't done in months. Lying there listening to distant traffic noise and trying to get his mind to stop racing, he realized he heard a soft snuffling noise coming from Bill's bed.

The stress of the evening had caught up with Bill. Eric knew he was crying and it was all Eric's fault. He had talked him into going to that vampire club and it was just dumb luck that big vampire wasn't a bad guy and had helped them out. It could have been so much worse. Eric and Bill had both met kids in the system who had horrible things happen to them. So they were more aware than most of how bad, bad could be.

Eric slipped out of bed and padded over to Bill's "Move over Bill" he said, pushing Bill's shoulder a little.

Bill looked up at him, rubbing his eyes, he hesitated before he said "You're not going to do the other thing, are you"?

"No, of course not, come on move over"

"Okay" Bill replied as he shifted over to give Eric room.

Eric got under the covers with him and wrapped his arms around Bill's shoulders very tightly. Bill liked being held tight, so Eric squeezed him a little as the soft post crying hiccups started dying away. Eric had no idea why he liked being held that way. Why wasn't something Eric ever asked.

The last time Eric asked why was when his Dad told him he was leaving again to go back overseas. His Dad had told him to be brave and strong, but Eric didn't feel either, he had cried angrily saying "But WHY? Why do you have to go"?

His Dad had looked at him and said "Because freedom is the most expensive thing you'll ever buy Eric and at some point we all have to pay". His Dad had told him to take care of his mother while he was gone and promised he would be back. And Eric had tried he really had tried, but he couldn't stop his mother from drinking the extra drink here and there. And he couldn't stop her when she moved to drinking from morning until night with a couple pills mixed in. And when he found her passed out lying in her own vomit after promising to "cut down" on the booze, he'd stopped asking why.

He didn't ask why when his friend Timmy's Dad came home to patriotic balloons and a party while Eric's Dad came home in a box.

He didn't ask why when his mother started "disappearing" for a couple days at a time leaving him to fend for himself.

He didn't ask why when the police and Child Services had shown up to remove him from the only home he'd ever known.

When he was told he'd have to be placed in foster care because none of his relatives could take him, he didn't ask why.

And as he was shuffled from one home to another since older boys are "difficult to place" as it was explained to him, he didn't ask why.

He was placed in this current group home due to his age and the unlikely scenario of his ever being adopted by anyone. He knew that and he didn't have to ask why. Warily, he'd kept his distance from everyone since as far as he was concerned, he'd been taking care of himself for over 2 years.

Then when his mother tried to get custody back, the Child Advocacy Rep and Child Services had taken him to court to meet the judge and see what could be worked out. He'd carefully dressed and combed his hair, so his mother would see that he was worth getting back.

They sat in the courthouse all day and she never showed up.

Eric didn't ask why.

That night, he'd snuck into the old attic at the top of the house and sat up there on dusty boxes sobbing like he'd had the last time he'd seen his father. Suddenly, he'd realized someone was there, so he turned and there was Bill standing there in his pajamas all covered in little bats and a book in his hand. "What the fuck do you want"? He'd demanded. Bill had simply walked over and sat next to him. He didn't' say anything for a while, than he asked "what happened"? Eric had found himself spilling out everything to Bill and unable to stop crying.

Bill had listened without interruption. Then he had said "You know, you're going to be okay, you know that right"?

And Eric had looked at him with disgust "And how do you know that? My life has been shit, what's to stop the rest of it from being shit"?

"I just do" he'd replied very simply as if it was a foregone conclusion that Eric could have any life he wanted. Then, Eric got curious and he asked Bill about how he ended up there. When Bill got done, Eric started thinking maybe his life hadn't been as bad as he thought.

When Bill got up, Eric had asked "You won't tell anyone about any of this will you "?

"Of course not" Bill had answered and he never had.

After that, they were inseperable, secure in their secrets and loyalty to each other. Eric had made looking out for Bill his job. He'd promised his Dad he'd watch out for his Mom and he'd failed. Bill needed someone to look out for him. He could watch out for Bill and he did.

Eric listened as Bill's breathing became steady as he drifted off to sleep. He patted Bill's shoulder a couple more times then slowly slid out of the bed and went back to his own.

Thinking again about what had happened tonight, he realized how close they'd come. Bill could have gotten killed tonight and it would have been Eric's fault. It was bad enough sometimes he did things with Bill that he probably shouldn't. But he'd dragged Bill into a situation which could have been horror movie type bad and he felt like such a loser for it. Once again, he hadn't looked out for someone like he'd promised.

He wondered about the vampires they'd met tonight. Teaching about vampires had been controversial for schools. Most Science teachers explained that since vampires were a part of the natural order that children needed to be taught about them. But many religious organizations didn't want children taught about them at all. As a result, most of what Eric knew about vampires he got from TV and other kids and a lot of it sounded crazy. It was hard to know what to believe.

But that vampire Mr Northman had seemed okay. He wasn't Mr warm and fuzzy, but he'd been nice enough and hadn't seemed monsterous or psycho as the Fellowship of the Sun Church had insisted all vampires were. And he'd saved them from the robbers, although Eric was scared to think of what might have happened to them. He'd treated their wounds, fed them, given them those hoodies and the money, hadn't tried to do anything to them and been decent enough to drive them home.

Eric didn't ask why.

As he finally started feeling sleep pulling on him, Eric wished he could have seen the vampire fly.

That would have been cool.

TBC

_A/N sorry to end this on a slightly melancholy note, but it was important to get a clearer idea of Eric before we move on. We'll be finding out more about Bill in a later chapter. _


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N Charlaine Harris owns everything, I own nothing,nada,zero,zip, zilch._

_I have no beta, so all screwups are entirely my own._

_I'm sorry for the delay in updating this story, I started and deleted the beginning three times. It's a transitional chapter with lots of exposition and setup which is hard for me. Hopefully, now that its out of the way, I'll be okay now. _

_recap: boys Bill and Eric went to Fangtasia on a dare, got attacked by two men, saved by vampire Eric and Pam. Vampire Eric ended up feeding them dinner,tending their wounds,drove them home, gave them $100 each and very nice Fangtasia hoodies. Vampire Eric ended up glamouring the woman who runs the foster home that the boys live in, so she wouldn't be aware they had been out past curfew and been at a vampire bar. Now its the next morning. _

* * *

"BREAKFAST"!!!

Ms. Jo's voice boomed up the stairwell to the boy's rooms. There was a massive stampede of young male bodies down the stairs in answer to her call. You missed being on time for meals at your peril. If you were late, you waited until the next meal was served. Eric had found this out the hard way a couple times when he'd first been placed there.

For Christmas they had all received inexpensive digital watches. "Now you have no excuse for being late" Ms Jo had declared.

They lined up for "inspection" in the big eat in kitchen. Hands and face must be washed and clothing buttoned and tucked. She checked them quickly with an experienced eye, than jerked her head that it was okay to sit down. There was jostling around the table even though they pretty much all had established places to sit.

The big rectangular table was pushed into one side of the room, with bench seating against the wall and non-matching chairs on the other side. Ms Jo sat at the head of the table, so she could be close to the stove and get up and down when needed.

Next to her was Maxwell Lee, a tall, slender, black youth, 16 years of age, typically wearing a serious expression. He was very smart and studious, having decided that school and a scholarship was his way out of "this ghetto" as he put it. Both his parents were in prison for a vast array of crimes like forgery, robbery, drug dealing, credit card fraud and the like. "I'm not going to be a loser like them" He'd said. All the other boys, including Eric bowed to his authority and as a result he had the most comfortable chair at the table, complete with a cushion.

Bill and Eric's roommate Bubba sat next to him. Bubba was also 16 and black, but there the similarities ended. He was actually in Eric's classes, having been held back twice and almost sent to "special school". His mother had used drugs during her entire pregnancy, than abandoned him as soon as he was born. His birth certificate said "unknown" next to his father's name. He was tall, very strong and built like a tank. The High school football coach had been very excited when he saw him, but quickly found out that Bubba couldn't understand plays or follow any, but the most basic of instructions. A tutor worked with him during the school year and unbeknownst to Child Services, Bill had helped him too. It made Eric nuts listening to Bill having to repeat things over and over to Bubba to help him understand his lessons. But it paid off, and Bubba was devoted to Bill for helping keep him from being sent to that school for "stupid kids".

Being the next oldest, Eric managed to snag the last side chair for himself, even though it was missing the arm on one side it was still better than sitting against the wall.

The younger boys sat on the bench against the wall, under an over hanging cabinet which required a twisty kind of move to slide in without catching their heads on the corner. On the end near Ms. Jo, sat Sam who was 13 years old, white, wiry with brownish-reddish hair that never looked neat no matter how much he brushed it, much to Ms. Jo's annoyance. His entire family had died during Katrina, their family farm flooded. Rescue helicopters had found him sitting alone on the barn roof with the surviving cattle. Friendly and easy going, he got along with everyone, but he never spoke about what had happened and none of the other boys asked.

In the middle of the bench was Bill, who didn't like his spot, but his age and size kept him from pushing for a better seat. Next to him, furthest away from Ms. Jo, sat Lafayette, who had good reason to sit far away from her since he was always up to something and wanted to be more than an arm's length away from "Oprah's Wrath". He was 12 years old, black, and not much bigger than Bill, but he knew how to play his limited advantages. His family had been "a bunch of crack heads", so he had learned that humor was the better part of valor. When older boys tried to beat him up, he would start telling jokes and make them laugh. Eric was a little uncomfortable around him at first, since he had a slight "girly" quality to him, but he enjoyed sports and was fun to hang around, so Eric just got used to it.

Sitting between Lafayette and Eric, at the other end of the table was the other full time adult in the house, Terry Bellefleur. He was an older man, a veteran who had been in the Vietnam War and had a small pension he subsisted on. His face was slightly leathered from his love of the outdoors and his brown hair was full of gray. Primary responsibilities included maintaining the house, keeping the vehicles running, driving the boys around to appointments, running errands etc. He was a quiet man, reserved and preferred to not be bothered most of the time. When he was in a talkative mood he would show the boys about cars and fixing stuff.

After everyone bowed their heads for a quick grace, Ms. Jo started plunking the various platters on the table. Mrs. Josephine Pringle was a big believer in a hot breakfast for growing boys. A widow, her only other family, a daughter had died at the age of 25 of a drug overdose. By the time Ms. Jo had gotten the landlord and police to break in to the apartment her daughter lived in, the two month old grandbaby was dead too. A religious woman, Ms. Jo had decided it was her calling from God to prevent other children from going astray and dying meaningless deaths before getting the chance to do something with their lives. While the money that funded their daily lives came from tax payer dollars, it was funneled thru a Christian charity that Ms. Jo had worked for. Taking care of children who had no one else to care for them appealed to her and now she ran this house for "Jesus's lost lambs" with a firm hand.

A middle aged Mexican woman named Lupe, came in twice a week to do the heavy cleaning, laundry and pretended she didn't speak English, but everyone knew better. A couple different case workers came in a couple times a week to check on the boys. A tutor lived in the house during the school year, usually a college student looking for free room and board, studying child development, and wanting experience to put on a resume.

This made up their little ramshackle family unit and they got along pretty well. Ms. Jo was the heart of it all and once she'd taken over the house, the case workers had written glowing reports about her. So they had sent the more difficult cases, older boys, to her. She believed in rules, respectful behavior, keeping to a schedule and regular meals. Keeping to the rules got you privileges, like video gaming time, DVD watching time, certain freedom to go play outside and at the park and field trips when available. Breaking rules resulted in suspension of privileges, being grounded to the house most of the time and given extra chores to do.

This was Ms. Jo's World, they all just lived in it.

Eric eyed Bill across the table as they ate. They had both been watching Ms. Jo to see what the effects of the previous night had been and whether anyone had noticed their lateness.

Bill was spooning some sugar into his oatmeal, when Lafayette suddenly drawled at him " Sooooo, what time did you all get in last night? Seemed kind of late to me". Bill gave Eric a panicked look, lying just wasn't Bill's forte. Eric stepped in, "We called Ms. Jo and told her we were going to be late when we missed our bus back. Right Ms. Jo"?

Ms. Jo was stirring something on the stove and for one awful second, she hesitated. If the vampire's "voodoo" hadn't worked, they were in trouble. But her face relaxed and she agreed, "Yes, that's right, they called to let me know".

"So how did you get home"? Lafayette wasn't entirely buying it.

"Mr. Jackson drove us home" Eric offered. There were about ten families at school with the last name Jackson.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to ask him how his wife was doing" Ms. Jo muttered, shaking her head as she buttered her toast.

Lafayette sat back looking disappointed as Eric stared at him triumphantly. Bill just looked relieved that the vampire didn't appear to have hurt Ms. Jo, and she seemed only vague and confused about the night before. Eric shoveled a big bite of his pancakes into his mouth very satisfied with himself. It looked like they were home free.

There was some other small talk at the table about summer time activities since Maxwell had managed to get a job interning at a small law office for the summer. Ms. Jo was very pleased, so they discussed using some of his school clothing budget buying appropriate clothes for the job. Bubba was also excited since he had gotten his first "real" job pushing carts at the local supermarket and helping people load their cars.

"So I won't be with you all at camp this summer. I'll be too busy working" He pronounced proudly.

"We'll miss you Bubba" Sam said "It won't be the same without you"

"Aw shucks" Bubba was pleased about this.

"I can't wait for camp" Lafayette said, bouncing on the bench and earning annoyed glances from Bill and Sam. "I want to get out of this city for a while"

"Yeah, now that you know how to swim" Sam smirked.

"Hey"! Lafayette waved his fork toward Sam, receiving a glare from Bill since he had to reach across him.

"Lafayette"! Bill protested.

"Boys"! Ms. Jo commanded since Terry B. wasn't doing anything about the ruckus Lafayette was starting (which was why he sat on that end of the table). They immediately calmed down and continued eating.

Once breakfast was over and the table cleared, the boys all trekked upstairs since Eric had promised to show them something "really cool".

The house they lived in was a big house of a common style called the "American Four Square". Their neighborhood had probably been very nice when it was originally built , but as the city around it spread out and grew, it had aged as all neighborhoods do. Many of the houses were still standing on their street, but were now zoned small commercial and housed dentists offices or insurance agents. Some of them were now small apartments or duplexes. Their house had been split into apartments at one time, than rehabbed when the city bought it for the foster home. There was a big living room downstairs where everyone hung out and the tv/video games were. The two adults had their own rooms downstairs and private baths. Upstairs the bedrooms had been hacked down to three, Maxwell being the oldest had the smallest room all to himself. Sam and Lafayette had the next larger room. And the biggest bedroom belonged to Bubba, Bill and Eric. What had been a fourth bedroom had been turned into a very large bathroom with urinals, enclosed toilet stall, a standing shower, shower/bathtub combination and a long counter housing three sinks with equally long mirror above.

Since it had all been done with the typical under bidding common with government contractors, it wasn't very fancy. All the fixtures in the house were common, inexpensive stock that could easily be found at any home improvement warehouse. Ms. Jo made sure it was kept clean and the furniture was undamaged and cleaned regularly as well.

The boys all crowded into the biggest bedroom. Eric looked at Lafayette, who immediately knew to close the door so they wouldn't be overheard by the adults downstairs. Lafayette leaned back against the door and said " So where did you two motherfuckers go yesterday? And don't tell me you didn't get back late, cuz I knows you did. I don't know how you got by Oprah's Wrath (his name for Ms. Jo's Oprah magazine punishment), but what the fuck happened?"

Eric reached under his bed and pulled out the plastic bag, nodding to Bill to do the same. He slid the hoodie out of the bag and held it up for the other boys to see.

"Whoa! Does that say Fangtasia? You went to that vampire bar?" Sam gasped.

Eric nodded "Damn right we did".

"You white boys are just crazy" Maxwell chimed in, "Messing with vampires? You lost your damn mind Eric"?

Bubba was touching Bill's hoodie "It feels really nice Bill" .

"Thanks Bubba" Bill answered, since Bubba as usual had missed what was really going on.

"Fuck that! What happened? You got back late, I just know something happened" Lafayette was dying for a juicy story.

Eric proceeded to tell them an amended version of what happened. There were a few minor differences. They had been jumped by four guys not two. The big vampire was now closer to seven feet tall and his fangs had been dripping blood when he finished disposing of the biker guys. Bill had done such a good job fixing his computer, he had offered him a job. And the female vampire had been giving Eric slutty looks the whole time.

Why let details get in the way of a good story?

One part he didn't have to amend was the vampire's flying which Bill explained. That had gotten a very impressed "Ooooohhhhhh" from their captive audience.

He omitted the part about the hundred dollar bill since one thing you learn living in foster homes is to never let people know you have any money. Bill had vigorously concurred with this.

Once Eric was done telling the story, Lafayette looked at him with admiration "Maxwell is right, you a crazy motherfucker Eric! But what the fuck, you okay and Bill is okay, you got to ride in a corvette, you got those new hoodies and you got AWAY with it behind Ms. Jo's back! Fuck me"! And with that he gave Eric a high five.

Sam just shook his head, "I'm glad you guys are okay. That was pretty crazy Eric, you're lucky that vampire was alright".

Eric shrugged "Yeah, I know, we got lucky, but hey, its over and it's cool, you know"? Sam nodded.

They all started breaking up, Maxwell going back to his room to complete some forms for his internship was muttering about "crazy white people ruling the world". Eric just laughed.

Sam came and plopped himself on Eric's bed, "You want to play some B-ball"?

"Sure, but isn't Terry B going to work on a car today"? Eric asked.

For reasons none of the boys understood, Terry never worked on the vehicle inside the garage, muttering something about dark spaces, he would pull the car outside under the basketball hoop and work there for hours. It was annoying as hell, but they couldn't do anything about it.

"I heard him tell Ms. Jo he had to take the van to have the oil changed and tires rotated. He'll be gone awhile".

"Oh, okay"

"Hey, you think you might hook up with that punky haired girl again this summer" Sam asked, "What was her name"?

"Amelia" Bill chimed in from his bed, where he had his nose stuck in a book as usual.

Eric tried to act like it was no big deal, "Well, maybe, we'll see", he shrugged. He and Sam headed outside, Bill said he might come out later, but Eric knew Bill was really into what he was reading and that was unlikely. He yelled for Lafayette, who came running immediately.

They played basketball until Ms. Jo called for lunch. Bill came out later, so they were able to do two on two, until the exercise or the sun made his nose start bleeding again, so Ms. Jo had to come out tending to him and clucking about how she didn't know how he would survive camp being like this. Lafayette stood behind Ms. Jo's back making baby cradling motions while Bill glared at him and Eric clapped his hand over his mouth trying not to laugh. Sam ran behind the garage and they could hear him laughing from the other side.

But it was dinner time anyway and another day of summer was gone.

A week later, they left for camp.

* * *

The old school bus roared along the back dirt road in some backwoods area of Northern Louisiana. Everytime it got to a hill, the kids would all raise their hands and wait for the big BUMP, and they'd scream and laugh getting thrown in the air by the bus's lack of decent suspension. Since the boy's pickup had been one of the first for the trip, they had snagged the coveted back seats, far away from the eyes of the driver and the camp counselor giving him directions. The back of the bus was the place to be for trading pictures (of the sleazy kind), stories (of the even grosser kind) and getting thrown around when the bus hit bumps, holes, and craters not uncommon in Louisiana.

The Campgrounds were only ninety or so miles away from where they lived in the outskirts of Shreveport, but it took over three hours to get there due to all the various stops to pick up kids and the poor roads once they got into the woods. They were close to Driskill Mountain, touted as being the highest point in the state of Louisiana. The fact that Driskill was actually a hill didn't get in the way of the tourism board's enthusiasm and promotional brochures. Even though it was fairly north and slightly more elevated, it still stayed hot during the summer. Sometimes, cool fronts waved in from nearby states and other more mountainous regions and they'd get cool temperatures at night. Eric and Bill were hoping for this, so they had packed their hoodies in anticipation of wearing them at least once.

But that was not the case now, and it was with relief that the bus finally came to a lurching stop and they all piled out (or rather sweatily slithered, thanks to no AC) and eagerly looked around at other kids being dumped off like so much colorful luggage. Eric had hated sitting still for so long and was dying for action. He'd catch up with other kids later at dinner or group activities. Bill disappeared and Eric knew he had made a beeline for the computer lab that had been installed the previous summer.

Than he saw someone he knew, "Hey! Jason, what's up dude"? He had met Jason the previous summer and although he thought Jason was maybe two steps more intelligent than Bubba, he was great at sports. He was also a fairly nice guy, you just didn't want him around your girlfriends (according to other boys Eric had met). Jason nodded to Eric and they tapped fists. Eric noted with satisfaction that he was now as tall as Jason, maybe a smidge more. Jason had already grabbed a couple boys and was twirling a football, ready to go even though kids were still getting off the buses. Eric introduced Sam and Lafayette, everyone lined up and they started playing right then and there.

The adult counselors glanced over annoyed that unapproved activities were taking place already, but were overwhelmed trying to tabulate that all the kids that were supposed to be here were actually here. There was lots of milling around, running and gabbing as everyone saw people they hadn't seen in a while. Squealing girls ran up to each other, raving about new hair cuts and which boys looked the cutest this summer.

Let the teen hormone wars begin.

The boys had gotten started with their game, going back and forth. New boys were added as they ran up and asked to join. Eric had noticed Amelia standing off with some other girls, standing in the cooler shade of her bus. Her hair was always short, but it was dyed some crazy neon pink. Eric gave her a cool nod after catching the football, as she pointed to her head and laughed. She was talking to a blond girl with a ponytail who had her back to Eric.

Then the blond girl turned around.

WHUMP!

Eric hit the dirt as he got tackled by Lafayette. Lafayette immediately jumped up and started doing some stupid chicken dance of victory, as Sam ran up to Eric yelling "Hello! Earth to Eric! Didn't you see he was coming at you? Give me the ball". Eric sheepishly handed Sam the ball and glanced over to see Amelia and the blond girl giggling together.

He knew he'd never seen her before. She had a round pretty face, big maybe blue eyes with her blond hair smoothly pulled back into a ponytail with a red ribbon. She was wearing some kind of white tank top, with jean shorts and sneakers.

Feeling really stupid, he concentrated on the next play, putting extra effort into grabbing the ball carrier. Unfortunately, the two girls had turned around and were talking to someone else during this spectacular play. He switched places with Sam who was becoming one annoyed quarterback.

He called the play and everyone spread out running, his gaze swept the field and back toward where the blond ponytail was bobbing. Sam was running in that general vicinity.

What does a boy 13 going on 14 do when he sees a girl that intrigues him to distraction?

Eric threw the football right at the blond girl's head.

TBC

* * *

_Next chapter: Eric meets Sookie and Bill meets Sookie _

_PIMPING: I posted a oneshot on sunday(bad timing due to CH's 1st chptr release) if any of you missed it,you may want to check it out . It's called "Grave's Heart" , it features Sookie and our two favorite vampires, its a warm and fuzzy story perfect for holiday season reading. Please check it out! _


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Charlaine Harris owns everything , I own nothing ,nada,zero, zip, zilch ...gosh darn it.

_I have no beta so all screwups are entirely my own_

_I'll bet you all thought I forgot about this story! Keeping up with multiple stories can be a bit tricky, especially when the "voice" of each story is so different. Due to several readers requests, I've decided to bring Vampire Eric back later in the story , so I had to reoutline this. In the process, I've also tried to simplify it since I've discovered that I can easily go off on tangents when I'm writing. _

_RECAP : I know its been a while so: human boy Bill and Eric went to Fangtasia to buy shirts to impress their friends. They got jumped by two robbers, Vampire Eric and Pam took care of that , brought them inside, gave them dinner, replaced their money and gave them Fangtasia hoodies which they've brought to camp. Human boy Eric is hoping to hook up with a girl he met the previous summer : Amelia . He's noticed that she's standing with a blond girl he doesn't know. Right now he's playing football with some other boys including Jason, Lafayette and Sam. _

_Please remember none of the children will have last names in this story and I'm trying to make this general in nature, no specific time period. _

_Okay, Eric has spotted Sookie , and unfortunately has chosen to make his presence known in an unfortunate manner. _

THUNK!

To Eric's horror, the blond girl fell to the ground as the football slammed into her head. Adding to the mortification of the moment, a couple of the girls standing next to her started screaming like it was a drive by shooting. Eric ran over trying to get through the cluster of upset girls without attracting too much attention from the camp counselor who was kneeling down checking the girl's head. Of course, there was a crowd gathering around to see what was happening.

"What happened?" the counselor demanded as he looked around.

Sam and Lafayette both gave Eric a look, but he knew they wouldn't rat him out. Amelia's pink head swiveled and her eyes narrowed at him, but he knew she wouldn't say anything to the counselor either. She'd flip out on him later though. Unfortunately, none of this mattered.

"You big jerk!" the blond girl cried from her spot on the ground, her eyes filled with tears and pain.

"It was an accident!" Eric blurted, now that he realized she'd seen who had thrown the ball and there was no getting out of this.

"Did you do this? What were you thinking throwing footballs this close to the buses?" the counselor demanded.

"It was an ACCIDENT!" Eric said again, wasn't anyone listening to him? "I was throwing the ball to Sam and it …ah…just ..missed". He looked at Sam, who nodded back and chimed in.

"Yes sir, we were just playing around. We didn't mean to hurt anyone", Sam added.

This modified the counselor a bit as he pulled the girl to her feet. "This is why you should be playing sports only in the approved areas! Don't let me see this again. And all of you need to get to the big hall for lunch, orientation and cabin assignments. Get going everyone, nothing to see here! Come on young lady, we'll have you checked out at the nurse's office".

Everyone started breaking up and going in the general direction of the main hall where most of the large events took place. As the boys started walking towards it, Eric got shoved from behind.

"Hey!" he snapped, realizing Jason was the one who pushed him. "What's your problem?"

"That was my sister you shithead! That's my problem! What the fuck were you doing anyway? Sam wasn't even close to where you threw it!" Jason yelled as he got in Eric's face.

The two boys were almost eye to eye as Eric stared at him and yelled back "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! How many times do I have to say that! Shit! I didn't mean to hit your sister in the head, okay? Jesus!"

"Hey guys, let's just all chill out okay? Sometimes shit happens you know?" Sam said, while stepping between the two boys, trying to defuse the situation.

Lafayette chimed in sarcastically, "It would be just fantastic if you both got kicked out the first day, shit , the first HOUR we got here! That would be some kind of record maybe!" He laughed as he ran ahead.

They calmed down realizing the truth in what he said. The camp had a zero tolerance policy on fighting, drugs, and weapons of any kind, and it wouldn't matter who started it or why. They'd both be sent home.  
The boys quietly worked their way towards the big hall.

On his way to the computer lab, Bill remembered that he hadn't gotten his allergy booster shot before leaving Shreveport. He could still get over the counter pills though since that was in his medical records that the nurse's office should have. So he changed direction, having spent plenty of time there the previous summer. He couldn't miss the opening orientation at the big hall and he wanted to get a little computer time beforehand. Kids were still being unloaded off the buses.

As luck would have it, the nurse was tending to someone who had managed to get hurt almost immediately upon arriving. Bill sat down on one of the plastic chairs in the tiny front office to wait while the nurse took care of whoever she had in the examining room. He didn't glance around since he'd already read all the informational posters about tick prevention, spotting poison ivy etc before.

Kicking his feet back and forth, he noticed some hair growing in on his legs. He stopped and looked more closely. The dark fine hairs were scattered up and down his legs. It was about time! All the other boys in the house were way ahead of him on that score. The examining room door creaked open and he straightened up. He barely noticed the nurse, because walking ahead of her was the prettiest girl he had ever seen.

She was about his height, with blond hair pulled back into a ponytail with a red crinkled bow. Her eyes were the color of the sky on an overcast day, although they seemed to be rimmed in red like she'd been crying. She was wearing a white tank top with lacy trim around the arm openings and little red flowers scattered across it. A pair of jean shorts with a lacy pattern edging the pockets and sneakers completed her ensemble. Bill stared at her trying to figure out why she was so pretty, but he couldn't. A pouty mouth shiny with lip gloss frowned as she noticed his presence.

"Um, hi" He said, nodding towards her and the nurse. Just then he noticed that the nurse was handing her a blue ice pack, which the girl placed on the back of her head with a grimace.

"Now honey, just hold that to your head as much as possible for the next hour or so. It'll keep the swelling down. You'll be fine, it's just a bad bump," the nurse soothed.

"Thank you, Nurse Benson," the girl said, glancing at Bill as she let the screen door of the office slam behind her.

"Yes?" the nurse said, as she looked over her glasses at Bill. They started talking as Bill's mind continued dwelling on the girl who had just left.

His standard allergy discussion completed, a discussion that Bill could conduct in his sleep, he trekked back towards the computer lab. The computer lab had only been installed the previous summer. The organization running the camp was trying to present the concept of a well rounded experience for young people which included not just the standard camping activities of nature walks, sports, swimming, canoeing, and camping, but educational experiences as well like computers, science based classes, and the like. Bill's allergies often made out door activities difficult and it had been a godsend when the lab had been installed. It was in the science building which was used for teaching about nature, biology, and had a library as well. The computers had been placed back next to the library and Bill made a beeline for it once he walked through the door.

He settled in with a contented sigh. It was peaceful sitting in front of a computer. He could just lose himself for hours, but right now he was just checking what kinds of filters and settings they had on them this summer. They weren't as fast as the library computers at home, but the library computers had killer filters on them. Whoever set up the filters on these wasn't as thorough; or at least not thorough enough to stop Bill from working his way around them. He had quickly checked a few things, then on his way out made sure to stop and speak to the woman who ran the science building, Mrs. Gongwenger. Bill had worked himself into a comfortable relationship with her. She gave him free rein in the lab and he helped her when there was a computer problem. Instead of calling the technical support phone number for their camp, she would call Bill first.

While they were standing there discussing the new science classes being offered that summer, the girl Bill had seen earlier at the nurses station walked in.

"What can I do for you my dear?" Mrs. Gongwenger asked. The girl gave Bill a quick glance before answering.

"I was told I had to see you for computer and library access?"

"Yes, I have to get you set up in the system before you can use it".

"I just want to be able to email my Grandmother at the hospital she's staying in. Can I do that?"

"Of course you can," then she noticed Bill awkwardly standing there, "I don't know if you've met my computer genius here. He helps out in the lab, so if you have a question, you may ask him as well". She smiled cheerfully at Bill who felt himself flushing with embarrassment in front of this strange girl. "Bill, meet …."

"My name is Sookie", the girl said primly, "how do you do".

"Hi", Bill said quietly, as he stared down at her sneakers. He continued standing there like an idiot, not knowing what else to say. Fortunately, Mrs. Gonwenger jumped back in smoothly.

"Let me get your information, so I can set you up. You don't want to be late for orientation and lunch". The girl nodded and followed her to her desk. "Bill, you had better run along, so you're not late. I'm sure I'll be seeing you later". She smiled and gave him a shooing wave. Bill nodded and made for the door as fast as he could without running.

His mind was whirling as he walked to the big hall, mixing with the kids who had just arrived on late buses. He felt so stupid for not saying anything to the girl. What was wrong with him? All he wanted to do was stand there and look at her. He wouldn't let that happen again. Sookie, her name was Sookie, so the next time he saw her, he would talk to her about something. He would think of something. It would probably be days before he saw her again. The boys and girls were bunked on opposite sides of the campgrounds for obvious reasons. They shared some activities like meals, classes , crafts but not others like sports. She looked about his age, so they were bound to share an activity at some point. That would give him plenty of time to think of something clever to say.

The onslaught of noise in the big hall assaulted him as he entered the doors. The big hall had been designed to be rustic and had huge log beams running across the vaulted ceiling. Most of the time, there were long tables set up for the meals that were served throughout the day. For other events, they were pulled aside to create a large room for movies, dances, and indoor games when the weather wasn't cooperating. Right now the tables were filled with kids talking and eating lunch which meant orientation hadn't started yet.

Bill looked around and found Eric and Lafayette sitting with a couple other boys he didn't know.

"Hey", he said as he slid into his seat.

"Where the fuck you been?" Lafayette asked.

"Computer lab, right?" Eric said knowingly, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah", he replied, "What you guys been doing? I miss anything?"

"Eric tried to kill someone while we were playing football" Lafayette chortled, as he took a big bite of his pizza.

"Huh?" Bill looked at Eric, who shrugged and waved his hand dismissively at Lafayette who continued smirking.

"Ignore him, you havn't missed anything" Eric said as he slid a plate with a slice of pizza on it for Bill.

They ate and had to sit through the usual camp orientation about have a great summer, making friends, learning, enjoying the great outdoors blah blah blah. Bill was disappointed to find out he wasn't sharing a cabin with Eric this summer. But at least Lafayette was in his cabin so he would know someone. He was a little shy about meeting new people, but Lafayette wasn't so that would help.

"It'll be cool" Lafayette said, as he clapped Bill on the back. The rest of the day was getting schedules, activities, cabin assignments, luggage sorted and all sorts of other mundane details involved in getting large numbers of kids organized. That evening as they walked to their cabin, Bill had to endure Lafayette complaining nonstop about camp songs. "Why can't we sing something cool? Why all these fucking, boring songs that no one has ever heard of? What the fuck does Kumbaya MEAN anyway?

Bill tuned Lafayette out as he kept complaining all the way to the cabin, while they were getting ready for bed, and after they had gone to bed as well. Finally, he shut up and Bill was able to think about the girl Sookie again. Lying in the dark, the only sounds he heard was the other boys breathing and trees outside. He went to sleep picturing the girl's stormy eyes.

The next morning after breakfast, the boys ended up together at the baseball diamond. This was a segregated activity so it was only boys there. Since they were in the "junior" group, Eric was one of the older boys and got to shine. Bill liked watching baseball, but got bored when he played it. It was also unfortunate, that he got stuck in right field and started daydreaming. So when a ball was hit to him and it shot past him as he stared off into the distance; he didn't earn any fans. Lafayette of course had to rub it in as they walk back to their cabin. The sun was hitting its apex and Bill was grateful he had swimming as his next activity. Pulling on his trunks and swinging a big towel over his shoulders, he started making his way towards the little pond inlet. There was a small river (or large stream depending on how you looked at it) that went by the camp. The camp had set up a dock, swimming, and boathouse for storing the canoes in a little inlet that came off of it. The inlet was obviously manmade, but it had been there for decades, so no one knew what its original purpose was. As a result, there were older trees scattered around the swimming area, complete with tire swing and comfortable shade when one was done swimming.

He could hear the splashing and cries of other kids jumping in the water as he walked through the grass. Then he saw someone he wanted to avoid.

The previous summer, Bill had been befriended by a small group of kids who came from Shreveport as well. It was a group of three kids who attended a school for kids who had been kicked out of public schools. Their leader's name was Malcolm, he was tall and skinny, with pale white skin, black hair and piercing dark eyes. He was the same age as Eric, with a sharp tongue and he was a bully. His two partners in crime were a younger boy Liam, and a black girl named Diane.

Malcolm was capable of being nice if he liked you, but if he didn't that was another story. At first, Bill had been flattered when Malcolm had approached him and they had wanted to hang out with him. Bill's shyness made making friends awkward and it had been great having new people to spend time with. Then he found out what they really wanted. Malcolm had heard about Bill's computer prowess and tried to get him to do things that weren't just suspect, but illegal. He wanted him to break into files in the camp's database and get information about the counselors and other kids. When Bill balked at this, he found out what they were really like. Diane, who had originally been so nice and acted like she liked him suddenly turned on him. They had started making fun of him in front of other kids and making stuff up about him.

Bill hadn't known what to do. The Trio was always careful to never do anything in front of a counselor and they were very vague with their threats. Bill also noticed Malcolm never did anything when Eric was around, so he had spent the rest of camp with Eric as much as possible. Fortunately, there had only been a couple weeks of camp left. Bill had hoped they wouldn't come back this summer since it wasn't unusual for kids to switch camps or have other plans. Now he was by himself and the Trio were walking in the same direction. Malcolm looked like he had grown taller over the previous school year, and was looking around like a vulture craving fresh meat.

Ducking into the canoe house, Bill peeked around the door and waited until they passed. How he was going to avoid them all summer, he had no idea. While he hid and waited in the shadows of the old wood building, there was a sniffling sound behind him. He turned around, and in the corner of the building next to where they stored the buoys, was the girl Sookie. She was standing hunched over in the dark corner and it sounded like she was crying.

"Um, are you okay?" Bill asked. He wasn't sure what was going on. Girls often seemed to cry for no discernable reason. Maybe she wanted to be left alone? He started walking towards her, but she held her hand up.

"Go away!" she cried harshly. The pain in her voice tore at Bill.

"Are you hurt? Do you want me to get a counselor?" Bill asked. He took a few more steps closer and realized she was wearing a one piece white bathing suit with green piping. Only down between her legs, the fabric wasn't white anymore, it was red. There was a thin trail of blood seeping down her leg. Even in the dim light, he could see it clearly. It took a second for it to register and he felt himself flush once he realized what was going on.

"Leave me alone!" and she started sobbing all over again. Bill stood there, listening to her choking sobs and looked at her puffy eyes. It was so embarrassing being there, but he couldn't leave her like that. Taking a breath, he made a decision, after all it wasn't like he was a stranger to blood.

TBC

_A/N I wracked my brain trying to figure out how to work blood into this story, then VOILA! LOL!_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N All these lovely characters belong to Charlaine Harris. _

_I really wanted to get this chapter up for Valentine's Day, but no dice. That's what happens when you're trying to work two stories at the same time. Unless something happens this weekend, like another car drama, or some craziness, I should be able to finish the next installment of Nesting Instincts by this weekend. Let's all keep our fingers crossed. _

_A reminder: this story is rated T and will remain so since it involves children. But we're also talking about developing young teens, so there will be some young lemon drops in this chapter. Hopefully, this comes across appropriately to you all. _

_Recap: Boy Bill and Boy Eric met vampire Eric and Pam under unpleasant circumstances at Fangtasia. Vampire Eric gave them Fangtasia hoodies, which they've brought to summer camp, hoping show to show them off a little. They're not staying in the same cabin this summer, so they'll be separated a bit more than in previous summers. Bill has met girl Sookie, who so far is probably having the worst camp ever since Eric clocked her in the head with a football to get her attention , although he denies it and now her period has started when she was supposed to go swimming. Unfortunatelly, she's wearing a white swimsuit and has now hid herself in a nearby boathouse, crying her eyes out. Bill has run into her cuz he's hiding from Malcolm,Diane, and Liam who bullied him the previous summer. _

_Let's see what happens next: _

__

Bill looked at the bleeding girl as she hugged herself tightly and sobbed. Her face was swollen and her pretty eyes were flush with tears. He wanted to run over and hold her, tell her everything would be okay. He had to help her.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get someone?" he asked.

"NO! Then everyone will know, they'll make fun of me!" she cried.

"I'll help you", he offered, not sure if this would upset her more or not.

"What?"

"I'll help you", he said more definitively. He wanted to help her. He would help her. Her crying slowed down somewhat which he took as a good sign.

"What can you do?"

"Well…here!" he yanked his beach towel off his shoulders and walked closer to her while holding it out. "You can wrap it around your waist and walk back to your cabin without anyone knowing…about …well..you know". He thought this was a pretty good plan.

"You're not going to tell anybody?" she asked, as she rubbed tears off her face.

"No, of course not, why would I? It's none of their business anyway", he said as he nodded his head towards the outside world

Sookie looked doubtful as she wiped her nose and sniffled, "Are you sure? I don't want to mess up your beach towel."

"Naw, it'll be fine", he declared expansively, waving the beach towel at her like a matador's cape.

"It doesn't gross you out?" she asked hopefully.

Bill shrugged. "It's natural right? You're a girl….it comes with the territory, you know?"

"Yeah", she sighed. "It does….it really sucks though." She smiled through her tears a little. And she seemed to be calming down, much to Bill's relief. Watching her cry had just stabbed something inside of him. Now that she was accepting his help and purposefully wrapping the towel around herself, he felt that pressure subside. They started towards the door, when Bill remembered about Malcolm and his crew.

"Hold up, let me check something first", he warned her, while holding her back with one hand.

"What is it?"

"There were some kids heading this way."

"Hey, why did you come in here anyway?" she asked.

"Ah…I was avoiding someone. I was in a hurry to get the swimming dock and I just didn't feel like dealing with them." There, that was close enough to the truth. He didn't want to get into the whole story about them anyway.

"Oh, okay", she said, seeming to accept this. Then she looked down at the towel, which fit on her like a sundress, wrapping under her arms and almost down to her ankles. "So, you like Batman, huh?"

"Yeah", he answered warily, not sure what she was going to say.

"Oh, it's fine. I get why boys like him. I mean, he's got a secret hideout, a cool car, gadgets, and he's really rich. Who wouldn't want that, right?"

Bill listened, amazed by the possibility he might have met a girl who actually liked Batman. "Well, he's also really smart. What makes him awesome is that he's a normal human, with no special powers. So, he has to create all these inventions instead. It's much harder than just being zapped with Gamma radiation, being a mutant, or being born on an alien planet and being able to fly, have X-ray vision and all that crap."

Sookie shrugged. " I don't know. I guess I'm not into the whole superhero thing because they all have to lie so much, even to people who love them. I don't like that. "

"But they lie to protect the people they care about, otherwise the bad guys could go after their families and friends", Bill said insistently.

"God won't make you do something bad in order to do something good", Sookie declared, obviously quoting someone else.

Now she was going to bring God into all this? Girls just didn't understand the burden that superheros carried, Bill thought. "Well, I don't know about all that" , he said. His grandfather had taught him that arguing about God was a huge waste of time, so it was usually best to drop it when the big guy's name was brought into a conversation.

Bill had checked and double checked the area surrounding the boathouse. He could still hear the splashing and yelling from the swimming dock, but there was no one else around. Gesturing to Sookie, he led the way out of the boathouse and back towards the cabins.

"You don't have to walk me back", she argued. "You'll miss your swimming. I'll be fine. I'll make sure you get your beach towel back"

"No", he insisted. "I'll take you back, just in case anything happens. "

She rolled her grayish blue eyes, " I'm perfectly capable of walking back to my cabin myself. I'm not a baby, Bill. "

Bill stopped himself from pointing out the fact that she had been crying like a baby not twenty minutes before. He had a feeling that comment would just make her mad. "I'm going with you", he replied stubbornly.

Sookie defiantly flipped her ponytail and marched in the direction of the girl's cabins, ignoring him. Their flipflops were flapping in time with each other, as Bill's stride matched Sookie's exactly. Bill hoped they wouldn't run into anyone who would give them a hard time Boys weren't even supposed to be in this section of the campgrounds.

Unfortunately, they weren't that lucky.

Just as soon as they were rounding the corner into the girl's cabin area, who should come around the corner but Diane. Bill knew if she spotted him, she'd run and tattle just to get him into trouble. He ducked behind a large maple tree shading the girl's cabin. Sookie saw what he did and once she saw Diane coming, she knew why. Diane was alone, but that wouldn't stop her mouth.

"HEY there! If it isn't crazy Sookie! Did you have a nice swim?" she cackled, as she skipped along past them shaking her skinny black shoulders. Once she was out of sight, Bill popped back out and ran up close to Sookie, who was walking even faster towards her cabin with her head down and shoulders hunched over.

"Sookie!" he hissed. "Are you…" He was stopped in his tracks by Sookie abruptly going up the steps of her cabin, tossing him his towel, and slamming the door behind her. Her face had been crumbled and her lips trembling. Bill could hear crying again from the inside. He stood outside the threshold, staring at the door with its No Boys Allowed Past This Point sign, clutching the bloody towel, powerless to help.

Bill couldn't stop worrying about Sookie the rest of the day. All through the afternoon, while categorizing leaves in science class, sneezing during his nature walk and even during dinner, he worried. Lafayette had noticed and asked him what was eating him, but Bill said nothing. Eric was sitting with Amelia at dinner, hoping to rekindle their relationship from the previous summer. Bill saw Eric's golden head hovering in the crowded tables next to Amelia's bright pink one. He was glad. If Eric had started asking him questions, Bill would have been tempted to ask him for advice, which would have meant telling him things he'd promised Sookie he wouldn't reveal to anyone.

Fortunately, when one of the counselors had noticed the fact that Bill had missed his swimming activity, Bill had still had the beach towel with him. He showed it to the counselor, saying that he'd gotten one of his infamous nosebleeds and had decided to sit out the swimming until it subsided. The counselor had bought it. Having a "good kid" reputation came in handy.

Once darkness fell, Bill decided he couldn't stand it anymore. He had to know that Sookie was okay. He hadn't seen her at dinner and had been afraid to approach her friend. It would have been impossible to have a private conversation with her in the crowded hall, especially with Eric there. He was going to have to do this himself.

The previous summer, he and Eric had figured out the pattern the counselors used to make sure everything was safe on the grounds. The main gate was locked at night, any vehicle pulling up had to use the phone box to call the main office that was staffed all night in case of emergencies. But there were always a couple counselors who walked the grounds, to make sure everyone stayed in their cabins and didn't roam around at night. But this wasn't a maximum security prison. As long as there weren't any problems , the counselors were a bit relaxed about it and did their little walks at predictable intervals. It looked like that hadn't changed.

Once Bill saw the boy's counselor do his little walk around, he wrapped his Batman sleeping bag around himself with the inside facing out. The outside of it had a huge bright yellow circle with Batman jumping towards you. But the lining was grey with little black bats, so it would be hard to see in the dark, like camouflage Bill figured. The other boys in the cabin were sound asleep, so Bill crept out of the cabin, being careful not to let the door creak too much.

He clutched his sleeping bag around him, his bare feet tiptoeing in the cool, damp grass. He should have thought to bring his Fantasia hoodie. Heart pounding, he dashed from bush to tree to bush to building to bush, trying to remain unseen from any counselors who might be patrolling. It was a clear night, so the half moon shed just enough light for him to see in the darkness of the Louisiana woods. After what seemed like hours, he made it to Sookie's cabin. He hunched down and waited for the girl's counselor to do her check. Then, he would have a couple hours before she came by again.

Once he had seen her tall figure striding past, he went up to the screened windows of the cabin. Fortunately, Sookie's bed was at floor level and she was right next to the window. Bill stared at her for a minute, mesmerized by the sight of her. Her golden hair shone in the moonlight, like silver. She was an angel, Bill thought.

"Pssst", he stage hissed, trying to be loud enough to get her attention without waking the other girls. She shifted and murmured a little, but didn't wake up. Jeez, he hoped she wasn't as bad as Bubba. Bubba slept like the dead and was impossible to wake up. Eric had conducted "experiments" to verify this little fact. Experiments that had gotten him in trouble with Ms. Jo, and earned him fun time helping Terry clear leaves out of the gutters. Bill tapped on the screen very softly. Her eyes snapped open, fear jolted her face and she snatched her sleeping bag to her with a whimper. "Sookie…it's me…Bill!" he whispered again, waving his hand.

"Bill!" she whispered back. "What are you doing? You scared me!" she said urgently and low, her voice becoming angry.

Bill hung his head a little abashed. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay" he mumbled.

Her expression softened and her big eyes blinked at him. She was silent for a moment and Bill shifted on his feet. "Well, I guess this was a stupid….I'm sorry…I'll go. " He readjusted his sleeping bag over his head and turned to go.

"Wait!" she cried softly.

He looked back. "What?"

"That was…..a really sweet thing to do", she murmured.

He toed the grass with his toe and shrugged. "Um…it was nothing."She gazed at him through the screen, then held her hand up against it. She didn't say a word, but Bill knew what to do. He held his hand up to the screen as well, touching her through the aluminum material. On impulse, Bill blurted, "Do you want to go to the boathouse dock?"

"What? We'll get caught. I don't want to get in trouble", she whispered, glancing back at her cabin mates.

"We won't", Bill insisted. "I know how long it takes for the counselors to do their patrolling cycle. I promise we won't get caught."

"Oh….I don't know", she waffled.

"Come on!"Bill urged. "It'll be cool. We can sit next to the water, listen to the frogs, the moon reflects on the inlet in a really cool way. You'll like it. " Girls liked looking at the moon, water and stuff like that, this Bill knew.

"Oh…okay!" she grinned. "Why not?"

"Come outside, we'll both hide under my sleeping bag. It's dark and it'll hide us better", Bill explained. The bright pink bedding he could see through the screen wouldn't work at all. He waited with baited breath while Sookie snuck out of her cabin and around to his side of the structure. She joined him under the sleeping bag.

"This is SO crazy!" she giggled.

"Let's go!"Bill cried, almost forgetting to keep his voice down. They snuck through the grass, tip toeing and trying not to laugh out loud, which would alert anyone around that they were out of their cabins without permission.

When they made it to the boathouse, they both burst out laughing.

"We made it!" Sookie exclaimed.

"I told you", Bill declared proudly.

They walked around the dock that ringed the boathouse, so they were facing away from the rest of the camp and any potential adult eyes. Bill sat down sitting partially on the sleeping bag and keeping the rest of it up and over his shoulders. To his surprise, Sookie sat in the bag with him, keeping her edge of the bag over her slender shoulder. So now they were sitting in the bag together, gazing out over the water and towards the forest. The half moon shone in the water's reflection so brightly they could make out all the tiny waves flowing up to and under the dock they sat upon.

"This is nice", she said. "The moon is so pretty and it's so nice and quiet. It's like our own private lake."

Having gotten Sookie to come with him, Bill was struggling with what to say. "Yeah, it's cool" , he replied lamely.

"I'm not usually up this late", Sookie said. "I pop out of bed with the sun, usually."

"Oh, I'm always up late", Bill said. "I've always had trouble sleeping. My brain just won't stop. I keep thinking about stuff."

"You're a night owl", she announced. "Or you're a vampire!" she added, giggling.

"Nah, I've met a vampire…they're really different", Bill said casually.

"No way!" she cried, her eyes staring at him in the dark. "What happened?"Bill gave her an amended version of events at Fangtasia, trying to downplay how scared he'd been. Sookie was smarter than that. "That sounds pretty scary to me", she declared.

"Well, I guess. It turned out okay though."

"That big vampire sounds creepy."

"He was okay. He took us home in his car. It was a red Corvette. It was pretty awesome. And he gave us Fantasia hoodies. I brought mine with me. If we go to movie night this Friday, you could wear it."Bill said.

Sookie sat silently, her face still turned towards him. Bill felt his face flushing and he was glad it was so dark. He had no idea why he had said that. The camp showed movies on Friday night, usually 2nd run flicks. Taking a girl to them and sitting with her usually meant you were "together". All the older kids did it, but they always seemed to have understandings that baffled Bill. She still wasn't saying anything.

Bill hurriedly added, "never mind, It's no big thing…."

"I'd love to."

Bill was shocked into silence. The frogs chorus seemed to rise and he was really aware of how loud the rustling of the trees was. But that was nothing compared to how loud his heart was beating . He could hear it in his head, THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP….

He didn't know how it happened, but suddenly they were kissing.

Bill had been kissed by a girl once before. Her name was Sophie Anne, or big Sophie as the other kids called her behind her back. She was a rather large girl and tall for her age. Great at sports but not the most attractive girl in the school and she had decided she wanted Bill to be her boyfriend. She left him love notes in his locker, sent him a teddy bear holding a red heart on Valentine's day, and called the house asking for him. The other boys in the house thought it was the funniest thing ever. Lafayette went around telling everyone Bill had his own personal stalker.

It was the most humiliating thing ever, or so Bill thought.

While walking off the athletic field back to the school building after gym class, Sophie Anne had decided to make her move. She grabbed Bill and dragged him behind the bleachers. He tried to break free, but she was too powerful and she forced her big sloppy wet mouth all over Bill's face until he thought he was going to throw up. When he finally broke free and ran for it, he'd washed his face and mouth repeatedly the rest of the day. He never told anyone, not even Eric. Then Sophie's Anne's father had gotten transferred for his job and she left the school.

Being kissed by Sophie Anne had been disgusting.

Being kissed by Sookie was not.

He had no idea kissing could feel so good. No wonder all the older kids spent every minute they could doing it or plotting time and privacy to do it.

Her mouth was soft, and comfortably moist with no slobber at all. IT felt so good, that Bill started kissing her a little harder, then he reached around her shoulders and pulled her closer for balance. Her arms slowly crept under his arms and she clawed at his spine which for some reason didn't hurt at all. He felt himself tilting back a bit and realized she was pushing him back onto the dock. Now, they were lying on his sleeping bag on the dock. She scooted herself a little closer to him and their legs got a bit tangled as they kissed and ran their hands across each other's backs.

Suddenly, she pulled back a little and Bill was scared that maybe she was having second thoughts and wanted to stop kissing him. Her face was shadowed, but the moon was right behind her head like a halo on one of the saints he'd heard about in the Sunday school classes Ms. Jo had made him attend.

"Here", she panted and she took one of his hands and placed it across her chest.

Did she want him to touch her …her…..really? Bill lay there, barely breathing with one hand awkwardly resting on her chest, not sure what to do. Once she started kissing him again, his hand involuntarily squeezed and she let out a tiny "Oh!". So he squeezed again, then rubbed a little. They were really soft, much softer than he had been expecting. So, they kissed and tangled for a while longer. After a little while, Sookie drew back and said "Let's stop now." Bill didn't know why, but he did as she said. She didn't sit up, but continued lying next to him on the sleeping bag with her arms around him. Bill pulled the edge of it around them, so they were reasonably comfortable inside it.

Bill was completely relaxed, well except for one part and he was content to lie there all night with Sookie, gazing up at the stars and listening to the frogs and the trees. He had his arms around the prettiest girl in the world and she had agreed to be his.

And it was perfect.

TBC

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_A/N *sigh* Young love is so wonderful, until it goes all to hell. LOL! _


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N Charlaine Harris owns the original grown up versions of all these characters. I'm only borrowing the younger, cuter versions for a while. _

_Ah! The kids are back! Now that I have a better handle on where I'm going with this story, the writing is much smoother. Smooth is good. Thanks to all of you following this simple little story. Because this story doesn't have all the typical ingredients that you see in most of the stories on this site, I knew it wasn't going to receive a massive amount of reviews. So, I wanted to let you know I appreciate every single one of them. Thanks so much! _

_I think it's safe to say that Boy Bill is completely besotted with Girl Sookie, so let's see what happens..._

__

Bill and Sookie stayed lying on the dock for a while. They talked a little, and Bill pointed out constellations that he knew. Bill would have loved to have stayed all night, but it was getting very late, he realized Sookie was becoming sleepy and needed to go back to her cabin. Getting back seemed to take longer, since Bill was more worried about them being caught by a counselor than he had been going out. Sookie gave him a quick hug and kiss when he safety deposited her on her cabin's doorsteps. He hunkered down and waited for the girl's counselor to pass by, then scrambled back to the boy's cabins.

While he was hesitating next to a large bush, glancing around for the boy's counselor, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. It appeared to be a figure out in the woods. Had someone seen him? He froze, keeping his sleeping bag draped around him and focused on the spot he'd seen the movement. There was nothing. He must have imagined it. He made one last dash for his cabin door, then he was home free.

Silently, he rearranged himself back in bed. It had been an amazing evening. He had a girlfriend now, a real girlfriend. And she was pretty, and brave, and fun, ..and perfect. He couldn't wait to escort her to the Friday movie night. And he'd introduce her to Eric! Maybe Eric would have hooked up with Amelia by now and they could all hang out like couples and stuff? And even more unbelievable, he'd kissed her and even gotten to first base..or was it second base? He wasn't sure, but at least he was on the bases. And she had seemed to like it. He hoped so anyway. He really wanted to kiss her again and touch her some more, if she'd let him. Maybe she might touch him a little too? He reached under the covers, remembering her hands clawing at his back and her warm breath against his cheek.

Morning came too early, as it usually did, but Bill didn't care. He was in a terrific mood and couldn't wait to see Eric to tell him that he had a girlfriend now. Lafayette eyed him suspiciously, having noticed Bill's improved mood from the day before.

"What's up with you? You steal some happy pills from the nurse or something?"

"Nothing", Bill answered.

"Like Hell, you was acting like your dog died yesterday and now you're all happy. What's up?"

Bill shrugged, as they finished dressing and started walking toward the main building for breakfast. "Well, something has changed", he admitted. Bill was dying to tell someone about Sookie.

"Like what?" Lafayette asked, making a 'go on' gesture.

"I kind of met someone….someone really cool", he said.

"Cool? You mean …like a girl kind of cool?"

"Maybe", Bill muttered, shrugging and striving for a casual look.

"No Fuckin way! You got yourself a girlfriend? How is that possible?" Lafayette laughed, trying to picture shy Bill hitting on a girl.

"I told you. It's no big deal." Bill was becoming a little agitated by Lafayette's devilish smirk and predatory manner. He seemed a little too amused by Bill's news.

"Like the fuck it is! Who is she? Is she hot? Does she have a NICE booottteeaaa?" Lafayette danced around, giving his butt a good shake to demonstrate to Bill what he meant.

Bill felt himself flushing, not sure how to react to Lafayette. He hadn't thought about how other boys might talk about his Sookie. He'd heard the language boys used when talking about girls amongst themselves, it hadn't occurred to him that they might talk about her this way. He needed to buy some time. "Um, I'm not telling you. "

"Uh huh, she ugly ain't she?"

"NO, she is NOT ugly. She's very pretty."

Lafayette nodded sympathetically. Bill had probably found himself some chunky, dorky girl with glasses to hang around with him, that's what he was thinking.

"She and I are gonna hang out at the Friday night movie. You'll see !" Bill declared.

"Whatever you say, Bill. " Lafayette couldn't wait.

They had arrived at the main building, going inside, getting their pancakes and milk and finding seats near other boys that they knew. Sam came running up with his tray, "Hey homies! What's up? Don't we have canoeing together today?"

"Bill has a GIRLFRIEND!"Lafayette announced loudly.

Sam's blue eyes widened to saucer size, "Really? Who?"

"He won't say…it's all hush hush", Lafayette said, covering his mouth with his hand playfully.

"Why? We're your buds, you can tell us. What's the matter with her?" Sam asked.

"There's NOTHING wrong with her", Bill declared, this wasn't going the way he'd pictured.

"There's nothing wrong with who?" Eric asked, walking up with his tray of pancakes and milk.

"BILL HAS A GIRLFRIEND", Sam and Lafayette announced together.

"No way! Why didn't you tell me?" Eric leaned into Bill, staring at him accusingly.

Bill shrank back from the three sets of staring eyes. "I haven't seen you. It just happened yesterday."

"Well who is she? Where is she?" Eric asked, looking around the room while shoveling a big bite of pancakes into his mouth.

"She's on the earlier meal rotation. I'm bringing her to movie night. You'll meet her then", Bill said emphatically. He was hoping he'd have a handle on the situation by then. And Sookie would be there to help.

Eric eyed him curiously, "Okay, well I guess we'll meet her at movie night huh?"

"Oh come on! What the fuck?"

"Leave him alone Lafayette."

There was some grumbling as the boys went back to their pancakes. Bill was relieved.

Changing the subject, Sam said, "Hey, we all have canoeing together today, so we'll get to hang out!" Cheered by this, they quickly finished their breakfast and trooped off to the boat dock.

After sitting not so patiently through Canoeing Safety 101 and putting their bright orange life vests on, they finally got to get out into the canoes. There was much jostling and yelling by the counselors at boys who were jabbing other camper's canoes with their oars. Finally, everyone managed to spread out and with the counselor's voice ringing in their ears to stay within eyeshot of the dock, they made their way across the river. Sam and Lafayette were in one canoe and Eric and Bill were in another. They stayed near each other for a while, yelling insults and jokes back and forth. After laughing at Lafayette leisurely sitting back, letting Sam row the canoe by himself, Bill and Eric struck out on their own.

Eric sat in the back, yelling instructions to Bill so they could synchronize their strokes. The canoe sped smoothly as they pushed their oars through the water and tried to avoid the trees practically hanging into the water. After a few minutes, Bill felt the canoe slow down and it was getting harder to row. He turned around and saw Eric had his oar across his knees.

"Hey! We're supposed to do this together asshole!"Eric sat and stared at Bill quietly for a minute. "Eric? What's up dude?"

"So, tell me about this girl. Who is she?"

"You'll meet on movie ni…"

"Oh come on Bill! I'm your best friend! You can tell me…what the fuck is wrong with her?"

"NOTHING! " Bill yelled. "There's nothing wrong with her! Why is everyone assuming that?" His face was flushed with anger this time. His friends hadn't even met her yet and they were making assumptions that Sookie was a dog or retarded.

"Okay, okay, shit ….Jesus…calm down. You're being all mysterious, what do you expect? " Eric said, trying to sooth Bill.

Bill hunched over, glaring back at Eric. Eric began to realize that Bill was really offended and decided to offer an olive branch. "I'm sorry, really …..you're acting so weird…so …I don't know…I'm sure she's really cool. You don't have to tell me her name if you don't want to, but can't you tell me a little bit? We're best friends. You can tell me stuff….."

Scratching the faded drawing on his old jeans, Bill fell back into his normal demeanor. "Well okay….just don't be blabbing to Lafayette. He can't keep his mouth shut." Eric nodded vigorously in agreement. Bill hesitated, trying to figure out how to start since he wasn't sure about mentioning Malcolm and his partners in crime. Well, he could just omit certain parts of this little narrative, " Well, I was going to my swimming activity and I ran into her in the boathouse. She was crying and …and I walked her back to her cabin."

"Why was she crying?" Eric asked.

Bill shrugged. He had promised Sookie he wouldn't mention it to anyone. "She was upset about something…..I don't know …anyway …that night I snuck out, went to her cabin and woke her up."

"No way! Why didn't you let me know? I could have gone too." Eric exclaimed.

Not knowing how to tell Eric that he hadn't wanted him there without hurting his feelings, Bill skimmed over that part. "I was in a hurry. I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Oh."

"So, we ended up sneaking out to the boathouse dock."

"Wow! You made it all the way there? Fucking A!" Eric declared, with an approving grin and a pumped fist.

Bill smiled, basking in Eric's admiring gaze. "Yeah, we sat out on the dock, looking at the water for a while."

Eric's eyes narrowed. Bill felt himself being stared at through slits of blue. "So then what happened?"

"Um…not much, we just hung out."

Eric laughed. "You fucking liar…I can see right through you….so did you?"

Bill felt himself flush a little, this time not from anger. Eric laughed even harder, " You did, you did!" He pointed at Bill, holding his stomach as he laughed even harder. Once he calmed down a little he added, " So did she…..?" And he made the appropriate hand gesture.

"No, of course not! Shit…Eric…I just met her. And she's not like that…."he added, feeling it was imperative that he defend his new girlfriend's honor.

"So, you didn't even get to kiss her any? That sucks", Eric stated.

"Oh no, we did…some of…that."

"Uh, huh?" Eric leaned forward, making a come along gesture. "And what else? You get to grab any titties?"

Bill felt his face become hot and he looked back down at his faded jeans, listening to Eric's laughter. "Oh you SO DID!" Eric laughed. "Did you get her bra off?"

Bill thought about that, "Ah, no ..I don't think she was wearing one. Do girls wear them to bed?"

Eric shrugged, "I don't know. So, did you get under her…."

"BOYS!"

They both jumped at the counselor's deep voice next to them and meekly looked over, wondering how much he may have heard.

"It's called CANOEING, not Sit In the Canoe All Day. This is an activity. If you're not going to row, then you can go back to the dock and sit."

"Yes sir!" They both chimed together and then they started rowing with renewed vigor.

Once the counselor had rowed away to yell at a couple boys who were freaking out some girls by threatening to tip their canoe, Eric went back to his previous line of questioning. "So, did you get under her shirt?"

Bill just shook his head," Just outside."

"Were they nice?" Eric asked, waggling his blond brows.

Bill wasn't sure how to respond. He shrugged and nodded, not daring to look at Eric. At this point, Eric stopped asking questions and they continued to row upstream. While they could still clearly see the dock and the other kids, they were on their own. No one liked rowing upstream, but Eric had pointed out if they did it now, they could go downstream on their way back. At that point, they'd be fatigued.

"Hey look at this!" Bill cried, he'd stopped rowing and pointed into the water. Some tree roots were visible under the water's edge and several large fish were there gulping at the mosquitos tiptoeing on the surface of the water. They stopped rowing and coasted closer to the muddy embankment, ducking under low hanging tree branches.

Then Eric noticed something else," Look at the edge, what's that?"

Bill peered more closely,"It looks like footprints….some guy's boots. I thought this was part of the preserve that runs along the Indian reservation?"

Eric nodded. The boot prints were deep, like the man had stood there for some time. There wasn't anything, but crowded forest on that side of the water. The river divided the preserve from the camp. The counselors had explained that no one was allowed over there, except the Native American's who worked for the park service and took biologists and people like that into the preserve. It was protected and no hunting or camping was allowed.

The boys skimmed the edge with their canoe, discussing possibilities. After a few minutes, they heard the counselor on the dock blow his whistle which was the signal to come back. They rowed back downstream towards the dock, now cutting through the water really fast since they were going with the current. Eric yelled at Bill, " Faster! Faster!" They rowed as quickly as possible and passed a couple other kids on the way back, which was quite satisfying.

After lunch, Bill and Eric had a sit down class and a local Native American from the Caddo tribe on the reservation came over to talk to the kids. He explained about the different tribes in Louisiana, how some were no longer there having been pushed out by the early white settlers and the then new US government. He told them about the Kosati which meant "first people" , the Choctaws, and the Atakapa's tribe whose name came from a Choctaw word that meant "man eater". The kids immediately perked up at that little factoid. The tribe had the reputation of eating the flesh of their dead enemies, although after the French settlers and missionaries had dealt with them for some years, this practice had ceased. He thanked all of them for listening and advised that they were all invited to their reservation, where they had a small traditional camp set up to demonstrate native crafts, food processing techniques, tent building and a tribal dance with traditional music and dancers. The counselor stepped forward at this point, thanking the Caddo Tribal representative for coming and advised the kids that there was going to be a field trip to see all this in a few weeks.

Afterward, they split up and there was computer time, so Bill was in his happy place. He helped the camp librarian assist other kids with their access to their email accounts and various network sites.

Then, just like the previous summer, the camp supplied large colorful postcards with postage paid for the campers to send to their families. Each kid received four, so Bill sent one to Ms. Jo, Terry, and Bubba. On the fourth, he sat staring at empty space feeling forlorn that there these were the only people he had to send a card to. It would be nice to send one to his mother, but there would be no point in that.

On impulse, he wrote the address for Fangtasia, which he had memorized when he and Eric had gone there. After thinking for a minute, he decided what to say.

_Dear Mr. Northman,_

_How are you? I am fine. My friend Eric and I are at Driskill Mountain Summer Camp_.

Just in case the vampire didn't know what a summer camp was, Bill added ,

_A summer camp is a place where kids go to swim, canoe, walk in the woods, and stuff like that. We stay in cabins with other kids and have fun. I hope you and your friend Pam are having a nice summer._

_Sincerely,_

_Bill_

_Ps. We brought our hoodies to camp and hope to wear them soon_.

He stuck all his cards into the big mailbag on the table and went back to the computer to do some more poking around on the internet. Remembering Sookie the previous night and what they had done kept distracting him however and he didn't end up accomplishing much. Then he had to help Mrs. Gongwenger run an antivirus scan on her laptop. Even though he was in his favorite part of the camp, the day seemed to be dragging.

He couldn't wait until Friday night.

Bill wasn't the only one feeling frustrated. Eric was dealing with his own dilemma. Amelia was being coy about whether she would hook up with him or not. The previous summer, they had hung out a bit and they had even emailed a few times over the school year. Eric didn't have the patience to sit down in front of a computer for ages like Bill did.

He had even managed to see her once during Christmas break. Terry Bellefleur had had some job or another he had to do near where she lived and they had arranged for Eric to spend the day at her house. Amelia's Dad made big bucks in contracting jobs, mostly commercial buildings and properties. He was personal friends with the movers and shakers in his community. And they lived very well.

Eric had never been in such a big house before. To his eyes, it looked more like a mansion. Everything was beautiful and expensive and the grounds were huge. Her Dad even had a chauffeur! They had sat down to a lunch made by a cook and served on nice china, not plastic plates. Her father had been polite, but Eric was pretty sure he didn't meet any expectations of who he wanted his daughter to hang around with. Eric had to answer questions about his parents, but Amelia's Dad seemed to know more than he was letting on. Eric had felt out of place in his second hand sweatshirt and jeans with one of Bill's drawings on them.

It had been a relief to go outside. After putting on their jackets, Eric and Amelia had run around outside, exploring the cold garden, the Koi pond, the garage with a couple other expensive cars with foreign names that Eric couldn't pronounce, and a small barn. On the gazebo, next to the Koi pond, they had made out a little. Eric had held her very tightly, crushing her slender body to his until they were both out of breath. Amelia was even going to take him upstairs to her bedroom, but her Dad had said that it wasn't "appropriate" for guests.

That had been the last time he'd seen her. Now they were together again and she wasn't with anyone, so Eric had been hopeful. He didn't care about the pink hair. Amelia was bold, fun, and spoke her mind. He thought they got along great before, so he wasn't sure why she was being so uncertain now.

It didn't help that she had a new friend, Felicia, who seemed to always be around. Felicia's and Amelia's Dad were both in construction, which was how they had met. They kept in contact by computer and constant phone calls. She was as tall as Eric, appearing to be of mixed race, with long beaded braids down her back, high cheekbones and a super wattage smile. She was perfectly nice and Eric liked her well enough, but he couldn't get rid of her. He wanted to be alone with Amelia, so they could pick up from before. This wasn't happening since Amelia and Felicia always seemed to be in a clutch giggling and hugging a lot. He was trying to figure out how to talk to Amelia about this, when Bill dropped his bombshell on him.

He couldn't believe that Bill had managed to get himself a girlfriend, make out with her, complete with touching her tits, all within the span of two days at camp. This was so unfair!

She had to be a dog or a freak of some kind. Bill wouldn't say her name, so that had to be it. She'd have coke bottle glasses, braces with a retainer, or be really ugly. Eric calmed down about the situation, and reminded himself to warn Lafayette not to be a jerk. Bill was really sensitive and would get upset if anyone said anything bad about his new girlfriend, this Eric knew. He would be polite, but he already knew that Bill's new girl wouldn't be anyone he'd be remotely interested in. Hopefully, by movie night, he would have gotten Amelia alone and they'd have their shit worked out.

Everything was going to be fine.

TBC

_A/N I spent several hours researching the websites of various Native American tribes of Louisiana, so I could use a few of them for this story. It's hard to get a handle on which ones were/are still in LA since they've spent so much of the past few hundred years being pushed/pulled out of different areas by the US government *sigh* . Anyway, the factoid about the Atakopa was true, and I inserted it into this story because it's part of a minor vampire plot point later. So, to anyone of Native American descent, I meant no disrespect. _


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N Charlaine Harris owns the original grownup versions of these characters. _

_I know I said there would be no pop culture references and this story was general in nature, but I just couldn't help but make a couple tiny jokes. *snicker*_

_Eric and Bill have spent the past week impatiently waiting for "movie night". Eric is trying to get Amelia to leave her new best friend for five minutes and spend time with him. Bill is eager to see Sookie again and introduce her to his friends. _

Friday night finally arrived.

There was a light misty rain and the temperature had cooled a bit. It was time for sweatshirts and hoodies. Bill and Lafayette met up with Sam as they all hoofed it to the big hall for movie night. Bill was wearing one of his old sweatshirts under the hoodie since he had told Sookie she could wear it. He had only seen her briefly over the past couple days in passing. As luck would have it, most of their current activities seemed to be on opposing schedules.

The boys walked up to the big lodge where all the other kids were milling about excitedly, as if the darkness had infused them with some sort of drug. The swirling mist created a magical fog in the security lights and seemed to encourage the boys especially to run around as if possessed. There was much buzzing and discussion regarding the choice of movies. Due to the number of campers, there were usually two movies shown simultaneously and you could pick which one to attend. Arguments broke out amongst groups of kids regarding which one to see, since once you made your choice and entered one movie, you couldn't change your mind.

The counselors had pulled out the big popcorn machine and had it revved up, with the salty, warm smell drifting out the open door and right up one's nose. Lafayette, who loved popcorn, was bouncing up and down in anticipation. Much to Sam and Bill's annoyance, he started a familiar refrain.

"Sam, if you don't want all your popcorn, I'll take it."

"I'm eating it myself, Lafayette. Why do you always ask me this?"

"Cuz you always leave half the bag on the damn floor that's why! Why do that when you can give it to me? You know I love it! Ms. Jo always gets all stingy and shit. This is the only time I get to eat as much as I want. Come on, help your homeboy out!"

Sam's usual relaxed expression started pinching and he looked at Bill for help. Bill sighed, and said,"Lafayette, you can have some of mine, okay? Crap, leave Sam alone…do we have to hear this EVERYTIME we watch a movie?"

"Really Bill? I can have some of yours?"

"Sure"

"You see?"Lafayette said, staring at Sam. "Now, that's my boy right there, and you…you are just." He stopped as if he couldn't find a word horrible enough, as he held up his hand to Sam's face. Sam rolled his eyes and made a "crazy" sign next to his head for Bill.

Bill just shook his head, as he was too busy looking for Sookie to worry about this squabble. Then he saw her appearing out of the dark mist like a shining butterfly…or ladybug..since that's what was scattered along the front of her T-shirt. She was wearing red clam diggers and sneakers that sparkled as she walked. He dashed over to her.

"HEY!" he said a little too loudly, as he skidded to a stop and scattered gravel on her shoes. That had come out more abruptly than he had intended. "Hey", he repeated a little quieter.

"Hey", she answered. She had her arms wrapped around herself from the cool mist and she looked a little cold, which was what Bill had been hoping for. He pulled his black hoodie off over his head and handed it to her. She touched the fabric and immediately slipped it on over her head. "Oh, it's nice and warm, Bill", she said as she smoothed the cotton over her front and straightened her ponytail. They stood awkwardly for a few seconds. Bill wasn't sure if he should reach out to hold her hand or maybe put his arm around her shoulder? It would be nice if there were a rulebook about this.

They turned and Bill noticed Sam and Lafayette standing and staring at them. From their shocked expressions and the look that passed between them, he could tell they must be pretty impressed. Bill straightened up and Sookie resolved the touching question by grasping his hand. He led her over to his friends.

"Hey guys! This is Sookie", he announced proudly. Gesturing towards the other boys, he said, "Sookie, these are my buds….. Lafayette and Sam."

"How do you do", she said, bobbing her head in greeting.

"Nice to meet you Sookie", Sam replied with a smile, as he ran his hand through his already messy reddish brown hair.

Lafayette gave Sam another look, which Sam responded to by putting his head down and grunting. "Yo, it's nice to meet you there Sookie. Bill has been going on about you for days. "This last comment resulted in Bill glaring at Lafayette, to which Lafayette innocently looked back like "what?"

Sookie just smiled and glanced at Bill, " AWW! You been talking about me?" She nudged him with her elbow. Bill stared down at his feet and shrugged. "Are you saying nice things?" she asked.

Both Sam and Lafayette saw an opportunity to help Bill out, so they jumped on this." Oh yeah! He says you the bomb!" Lafayette exclaimed, as Sam nodded vigorously in agreement. This statement earned Bill an enthusiastic hug. Bill's cheeks started turning a little pink and the other boys took note. They were SO going to tease him later.

To give Bill a bit of a break, Sam brought up the movie they were about to see. Even though both movies had already finished their theatrical runs, it was the first time for the boys since they usually didn't have money to spend on movies. "My friend Kevin at school said this movie really kicks ass! Lots of robot ass whooping and major destruction he said" Sam declared enthusiastically.

"DESTRUCTION!" Lafayette bellowed out to no one in particular.

Bill laughed, until Sookie interjected," We're not going to see the vampire movie?"

"Ah….I had told them we would go see the movie with the fighting transforming robots. It's supposed to be pretty awesome with lots of cool special effects." Bill replied.

"Who cares about robots fighting?" she asked, as her face started forming into a frown.

"WE DO!" Lafayette bellowed even louder into the darkness, making some kids roaming around them laugh.

"Bill?" she asked again.

"Ah…."

"Come on Bill! There's werewolves…" she added temptingly, squeezing his hand tighter.

"BILL! Killer robots bent on major destruction! What could be better?" Lafayette asked.

Bill was torn. It hadn't occurred to him that Sookie might want to see the other movie. He really REALLY wanted to see the fighting transforming robots, but then Sookie would be upset. Maybe this once, he would placate her and then next time they could see his choice.

"Um guys, I think I'll go sit with Sookie this time okay?" Bill said to his friend's stunned faces.

"Man, I heard that movie wasn't that great…my friend Kevin said it was a chick flick" , Sam mentioned with a shrug.

Sookie frowned. "It has vampires and werewolves and there's fights and stuff…that's not chick flick", she argued.

Things got quiet for a minute. Sookie's ponytail started getting a little droopy from the rain, so she pulled the hood over her head. This made the print on the back visible: Life Begins at Night. There were a few curious stares, but no one had said anything yet. Bill and Eric had already discussed what they were going to say to people if anyone asked. Bill silently rehearsed it in his head.

Sam and Lafayette calmed down and didn't say anything else about the movie. Things seemed to be going okay. He and Sookie stood holding hands and his friends were behaving themselves mostly. He let out a sigh of relief, as he realized he'd been worried all for nothing and everything was going to be fine.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Eric was also in a good mood, having gotten Amelia to commit to attending movie night with him. He was wearing his own red hoodie, since Amelia had a brand new jean jacket that she had wanted to wear. Felicia was hanging out with some other girlfriends at the moment, which gave Eric one more reason to rejoice since he had Amelia all to himself, kind of. His red hood was pulled up and he had his arm lying casually across Amelia's shoulders while she leaned into him with her head resting on his shoulder. They stood talking with some other kids they knew, while they waited in the middle of all the bedlam for the counselors to announce it was time for everyone to go in. Like everyone else, they waited until the last possible minute.

Amelia ran off to go to the bathroom before the movie started. Eric was standing observing all the animated kids when he spotted Bill's hoodie. Even though the hoodie was black he could still make out "Life Begins at Night" in the yellowish security light. He hadn't talked to Bill that day, so maybe they could sit together during the movie. Sam and Lafayette appeared to be with him, so he'd ask them too. The crush of kids was getting thicker as everyone hovered around the doors, so he had to push his way a little. Once he got there he ignored Sam's warning wave and gave Bill's shoulder a vicious poke and said," HEY! What's up bitch?"

The person who turned around wasn't Bill.

"What did you say to me?" the blond girl demanded.

Eric stood and gaped for a second as he stared into blue stormy eyes glaring at him from under the black hood. His mouth hung open in a silent "O" as he realized that this was the girl he'd hit in the head with the football earlier in the week. He jumped on offense. "Where did you get that hoodie?" he demanded right back.

"Oh no, I don't have to talk to a big jerk like you", she replied. She crossed her arms over the "Fangtasia" name on the front of the hoodie.

"AH….Eric…this is Bill's new girlfriend", Sam said hastily, casting a worried expression at the obviously ticked off girl and Eric's stony expression.

"Oh…hey …ah…", Eric started, as he realized his mistake.

"DON"T even…."she declared, holding her hand in his face. "You were obviously raised in a barn and your mama and daddy didn't teach you manners."

Eric's felt a flash of anger flare up at the mention of his parents and he only dimly heard the gasps emitted by Lafayette and Sam. He took a breath and jumped in deeper," You know what? I was about to apologize for calling you a bitch…but now? I'm NOT!"

Her face flushed, and she started to retort, when they were interrupted.

"Hey Eric! What's up…ah..what's going on ?" Bill asked, as he stood there with the bag of popcorn he had just retrieved.

She jumped back in,"So what are you going to do? Throw a football at my head? AGAIN?"

Eric stepped closer to better loom over her as he yelled,"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! What the fuck is wrong with you? Can't you get that through your stupid blond head?"

"If you want to see a stupid blond you need to go look in a mirror", the girl sniffed, as she swiveled on her heel and marched over to Bill.

Bill was standing there, clutching the popcorn, watching this trainwreck and trying to figure out what to do or say. He had pictured introducing Sookie to Eric and they would get along great, but not too great. And they would all end up hanging out and having fun. This was a disaster. Their little group was catching some interest from passing kids. It must have been the yelling.

Maybe he could fix this. "Eric, what are you doing? Why are you yelling at her? What's going on?" he asked urgently. Sookie was standing next to him and had linked her arm through his. She reached for some of the popcorn and started munching fiercely.

Sam tried to play peacemaker. "Ah…it's actually kind of funny really….Eric walked over and I think he thought…."

"He called me a bitch", Sookie announced around a mouthful of popcorn. Lafayette was eyeing the bag enviously, but Sam jabbed him in the side with a shake of his head.

Bill stared, shocked at his best friend,"What?"

"AAANNNDDD, he hit me in the head with a football the first day of camp, that's why you saw me at the nurse's office."

Eric was shocked by the change in his friend's expression. Bill's narrow face became still, cold, and his brown eyes glittered in the poor light. Eric had seen Bill angry before, but he'd never seen him look like this. Bill was glaring at Eric like he wanted to kill him right then and there.

"You HIT her?" he growled.

"IT ….WAS ….AN…..ACCIDENT!" Eric yelled and threw his hands up in frustration. Why wouldn't anyone listen to him?

"Yeah, right", Sookie drawled sarcastically.

"Who are you going to believe?"Eric argued, gesturing at the girl and himself.

Bill's brow was furrowed and he was saved from answering by the arrival of Amelia. She ran over, her pink head glowing in the light. With a running start, she leaped on Eric's back, who automatically grabbed her behind the knees, so she could stay riding on his back.

"Hey guys! Hey Sookie! Did you meet Eric? Hey Bill, how you been?"she chirped while wrapping her arms around Eric's neck.

The only answer she received was silence.

"EVERYONE INSIDE! LET'S GO PEOPLE!" The counselors stood next to the doorway shooing everyone inside. There was a minor stampede as groups of kids who wanted to sit together jammed through the doorways for the respective movies.

Eric kept the stony expression on his face as he turned with Amelia towards the doorway for the robot movie. Sookie pulled Bill toward the other doorway. Lafayette and Sam just looked at each other and shrugged as they followed Eric.

Amelia took notice," Hey Sookie! You and Bill aren't going to sit with us?"

"No, Bill and I are going to see the vampire movie instead", Sookie said.

"Oh, come and sit with us! It'll be fun!" Amelia urged.

"Bill, you want to go see that lame movie?" Eric asked, ignoring Sookie.

"Sookie and I want to sit together, so we're going to see that one", Bill said without answering Eric's question.

"Well that figures. She's got you going to a lame movie with lame fangless vampires that sparkle like her shoes", Eric sneered.

"Come on Bill", Sookie said, pulling Bill along with her. He cast one last sad glance at his friends and followed Sookie through the other doorway. He wanted everyone to get along, but how, when everything was such a mess? Maybe after the movie, everyone would be calmed down and they could get this all worked out.

"Can you believe that?" Eric fumed as he and Amelia found their seats. Sam and Lafayette were sitting ahead of them, Lafayette happily munching on his popcorn. He knew better than to ask Eric to share any of his. Eric would probably finish his bag before the opening credits were over.

"So what's the problem? Sookie's a friend of mine. She's nice", Amelia said.

Eric shrugged, unable to articulate why he was so angry. "Bill doesn't want to see some stupid vampire flick. He's just going because she's making him. It's bullshit. And she was being a bitch if you ask me."

"Well, you DID hit her in the head you know. And now you called her a bitch to her face. So, if you ask me, you're the one who needs to apologize. "

"You're just siding with her because she's your friend."

"If I wanted to be a bitch about it, I'd just refuse to speak to you, but I'm not. I think I'm being pretty cool about all this stupid crap. So, just tell her you're sorry. She's cool, she'll let it go trust me. "

"Yeah, right."

"Seriously, she will. She doesn't hold grudges. You'll like her if you give her a chance. And she's Bill's girlfriend now, so you should try not to be a jerk."

"Humph" Eric slumped in his chair as the room got dark and shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth to avoid having to talk anymore. Amelia leaned into the crook of his arm, so he could put his arm around her. Why couldn't more girls be like Amelia? She always said what was what and you didn't have to figure it out. And she didn't play games like that Sookie, who had obviously just dragged Bill to the other movie to make a point.

About a third of the way through the movie, Eric finally stopped thinking about Sookie. He got caught up in the simple pleasure of watching meaningless, major robotic destruction while hooting at the screen with everyone else. He had to kick Sam and Lafayette's chairs at one point when they started bickering because Lafayette was trying to talk Sam out of some of his popcorn. But otherwise, it was a pleasant couple hours.

Afterward, he and Amelia ended up at Witch's Corner. It was an area just past the picnic tables, right where the forest canopy began and was marked by large stones arranged in a loose circle. They had been there so long, it appeared the forest had grown up around them and no one knew why they were there. It was theorized that it had been some sort of ritual area and the name Witch's Corner was coined. Amelia thought it was really cool, but the reason Eric wanted to go with her was because it was also known as a prime place to make out.

They weren't the only ones there, but they had a semi private spot up against a large tree. Eric crushed her slender figure against the tree, kissing her as hard as he could. Her skinny arms were over his shoulders, so he was able to wrap his arms around her torso and under the denim jacket. The misty rain had stopped, but it had remained cool, so he pressed into her, enjoying the warmth. A tiny sound escaped her as Eric slid his tongue into her mouth. Then he let out the same sound as she voraciously sucked on it. It seemed a simple thing for him to slide his hands lower and clutch her backside.

A thrumming in his ears matched the gasps for air and Eric wasn't sure he'd be able to breath, even if he wanted to. He gripped harder and pulled her tighter towards him, which felt fantastic. Maybe they could find a private spot and he could pull down his …

"BREAK IT UP!"

Suddenly, bright spotlights were shining in their eyes and around Witch's Corner seeking out the various semi hidden couples. Two of the counselors were carrying humungous flashlights that could light up a football stadium.

"LET's GO! EVERYONE BACK TO THEIR CABINS!"

Eric and Amelia pulled away from each other, squinting in the insanely bright light, still gasping for air. Like several of the other couples, they were still clutching each other. This just got the counselors more annoyed.

"I SAID BREAK IT UP! BED CHECK WILL BE IN ONE HOUR! LET'S GO!"

As they stumbled out of Witch's Corner, Eric pulled down on the front of his hoodie for better concealment. He hoped no one would notice his condition. But as they walked back towards their cabins, he hoped he'd get to be in this condition again really soon.

Bill thought Eric's assessment of the vampire movie was correct, lame movie with lame vampires. But he wasn't going to say this out loud to Sookie, who had thoroughly enjoyed the movie. And Bill had discovered a terrific side effect to a girl seeing a vampire movie.

As soon as they left the building, Sookie pulled him behind the maintenance shed and started kissing him. Feeling more confident than the first time, Bill wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips, cheeks, forehead, and even her eyelids. She melted into his arms like she was meant to live there, smiling and giggling when he nuzzled her face with his nose.

"Your nose is cold!" she said.

"Sorry", he mumbled back, although he wasn't really sorry. Together, they were leaning against the back wall of the shed. He was kind of sorry he'd let her wear his hoodie, because the cotton was so thick he couldn't feel her body. It was like hugging a teddy bear his own size, she was so soft and cuddly. When he touched her cheek with his fingers she commented again.

"Your hands are cold too!"she exclaimed.

"Sorry", he said again. What did she expect him to do? So, his hands were cold. But she did have a plan.

"You can put them under here and they'll get warm", she suggested. She took one of his hands and lifted the hoodie up a little. Turning her so no one would be able to see what he was doing, he slid one hand under the hoodie and her shirt. Her skin felt so hot! They kissed some more as his hand hesitantly roamed upward. When his hand got to the bra, he decided to be a little more assertive and he rubbed much harder than he had the previous time. She gripped him to her, kissing his face all over.

"Am I hurting you?" he gasped.

"More…harder", she panted in his ear.

It was like a soft pillow and Bill squeezed tightly, worried he was hurting her, but judging by the tiny, moaning "Oh" she let out; she was okay. Burying his face into her neck, and perhaps inspired by the movie they had just seen, Bill dragged his teeth against the skin and bit down gently. Realizing what he was doing, he yanked back, afraid she would be upset. She surprised him again by giggling!

"Bill, I thought you said you weren't a vampire?" she asked, laughing.

"I'm sorry", he said automatically.

"It's okay. It didn't hurt", she said, as she pushed his hand away much to Bill's disappointment. Grasping both his hands with her own, she placed them around her backside. It seemed pretty natural to slide his hands into her back pockets and she did the same to him. They stayed like that for a moment, forehead to forehead, molded together like statues. Bill felt so peaceful with her.

Then they heard counselors yelling and when they looked up they could see huge, powerful beams of light roaming the area known as Witch's Corner. Older kids were running out of the woods like cockroaches to escape the probing light. It was only a matter of time before they were spotted too. It was time to go.

There were clumps of kids here and there all heading towards the cabins since the counselors were running around like dogs trying to herd sheep. Although, herding cats might have been a better analogy. Bedcheck was no joke, so everyone grudgingly was hoofing it back to their respective beds.

They were strolling hand in hand, when the evening took a turn.

"OH MY GAWD! It's crazy Sookie and crybaby Bill!"

Bill froze hearing Diane's shrieking voice, which was so loud he felt like the entire camp must be able to hear it.

Turning to see the Trio, Bill saw them standing in obvious delight and ready to pounce. Malcolm's dark eyes were piercing him and Diane's smile was even brighter than the counselor's flashlights.

"This is TOO perfect", Malcolm tittered. "Crybaby Bill and crazy Sookie hooking up!"

"It's a match made in heaven!"Diane cried, as Liam started hugging himself in goofy, romantic fashion making smoochy noises. "Did they let you out of the looney bin Sookie?" Other kids were watching in fascination and Bill felt his face turning hot from anger, embarrassment and confusion. Then Sookie's hand tore from his and he whipped around to see that she was running away, her ponytail flying behind her.

"Sookie!" he called out as he started running after her.

He could hear Diane's voice," Run after her Bill, don't cry!" He ignored their laughter. None of that mattered. He had to get to Sookie.

It turned out Sookie could run really fast and it took him a minute or so to catch up. He found her near her cabin, hiding in the clump of bushes they'd hidden in when they'd snuck out to the boathouse.

"Sookie?" he called quietly, not sure what was going on. She was hunched over, much like she'd been when he had found her in her situation. "Sookie?" he asked again, rubbing her shoulders. He gently tweaked her ponytail. "I know those guys are assholes, but please don't cry. They just talk shit. They're morons. Just ignore them. I don't care what they say."

A sob escaped and the words: Life Begins At Night quivered with her back. Not sure what else to do, he wrapped his arms around her from the back and squeezed as tightly as he could. More sobs escaped and Bill murmured,"Shhh, it's okay…it's okay."

"Why….wh…why….are people so mean?" she choked out. Bill didn't say anything. He didn't have an answer for that. Maybe when he was a grown up, he'd know.

"Just ignore their bullshit, Sookie. They're not worth it", he urged.

A tiny sniffle, then Sookie said,"It's not…..it's not all bullshit."

"What do you mean?"

She turned around, her eyes obviously swollen, even in the dark and nose runny. She wiped her nose with the hoodie's sleeve and looked down.

"Sookie? What do you mean, it's not all bullshit?"

She took a deep breath. "Well, last summer I stayed at a hospital for a while…"

"Were you sick? What happened?"

"It was a hospital for kids with problems, like mental and emotional type problems", she whispered. Her eyes flickered up to take in Bill's reaction. Then she looked down again,"You probably don't like me anymore do you? Cuz you think I'm crazy like everybody else!" And she started crying again, her breath coming out in choking little hiccups.

"Are you on medication?"

"Huh?" she asked, obviously surprised. "Um, no …I had to take some stuff for a while. But I'm a lot better now. I was just …going through a lot of stuff." She shrugged, peering closely at Bill's face in the dark.

"I don't think you're crazy." He said.

"You don't?"

"No. I think you're great."

"Really?" A tiny smile crept across her face as she sniffed again.

"Yeah, no doubt about it." He declared.

They stood quietly for a second, then she said," You're being so cool about this. Most kids get a little freaked out about it, like they think I'm going to go nuts and chop people up or something."

Bill smiled,"Nah, most people who have problems like that ….they won't hurt nobody." Sookie cocked her head at him, obviously curious, but she didn't say anything. Bill sighed and rubbed her shoulders, tipping his head towards her and pulling her close to him again. "Let me tell you about my mom", he said.

TBC

_A/N Next chapter : we finally find out why Bill ended up in foster care, and Eric and Sookie bury the hachet, and depending on how the chapter plays out, Vampire Eric might show up. _

_When ever I type Eric yelling about it being an accident, I can't help but think about Ross and Rachel. In my head I'm hearing Ross going, "We were on a break!" LOL!, I'm amazed I havn't accidently type that yet. _

_PIMPING: I'm working on a oneshot with Eric and Godric that will be posted on the Trueblood fanfic section , hopefully later this week. Watch for it! _


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N Charlaine Harris owns all the grown up versions of these characters, but not my cute younger ones!_

_A few people asked if I'm making boy Eric into a jerk. No, I am not. He's 14 years old which means sometimes he's going to be a jerk, that just comes with the turf of being a teenager and everyone needs to cut him some slack okay? Boys that age barely understand human emotional states, especially their own and definitely not girls. _

_Before anyone asks, I'm about half way through the next chapter of Nesting Instincts. I've hit a little snag with the plotting, but otherwise it's going fine. _

_Recap: the kids attended movie night and Eric managed to make yet another really bad impression on Sookie. Now, it's afterward and the kids are all heading back to their cabins. Unfortunately, Malcolm and his little band of malcontents have been amusing themselves by hassling Bill and Sookie, who has run off. Eric was busy making out with Amelia, although now the counselors and their giant flashlights have flushed them out. Sookie has just told Bill that kids call her "crazy Sookie" because she spent time in a mental hospital for young people the previous year. To her surprise, Bill isn't shocked or disgusted by this. _

_Here we go..._

"Let me tell you about my mom," Bill said

8888888888

Bill's earliest memories were with his mother, sitting at the kitchen table drawing pictures, and making things. His mother was a slender, lively woman with long brown hair and a penchant for wearing cut off jeans, flowing tops and handmade jewelry. His every waking moment was at her side observing everything she did. "My little helper," she called him playfully. She smiled and laughed a lot, telling Bill what a bright boy he was and encouraging all his little "projects" as she called them.

Noticing his intelligence level being way above other children, she patiently answered all his questions and when she didn't know, they would trek to the library to find out. The library seemed to be a treasure trove of unlimited knowledge that Bill soaked up like a sponge and it soon became his favorite place. Between the tall stacks of books, they would sit together poring over books seeking answers to Bill's questions. His mother would read out loud to him as he looked on, until the day she realized he was reading a page ahead of her.

The local school system, which seemed well equipped to deal with special needs children had no program in place to handle children who were as gifted as Bill. Their answer was to skip him ahead grades. But his mother looked at him and worried about his emotional growth being around children who were so much older. Two years is an eternity when you're only five. So, she decided to home school Bill herself. She had some college education and took additional classes at the community college to prepare.

"What's home schooled?" Bill asked his mother.

"It means you stay home with me and I'll teach you," she explained. "You won't go to school with other kids for a while. Is that okay?"

"I want to stay home with you, Mommy. I want to stay with you FOREVER," Bill declared, as he hugged his mother's legs.

"I wish you could too," she answered back, ruffling his hair.

Those were happy times. The only interruption was when his father came home. Bill's father traveled around the Southern central states selling pharmaceuticals. He would be gone for up to three weeks at a time. He wore the requisite suit and tie and rarely smiled much at Bill. Actually, he rarely spoke to Bill at all, even when Bill would show him his latest drawing or things he had made; his dark eyes would skate right over him. When he was home, his parents seemed to spend a great deal of time in their bedroom with the door locked. So, Bill didn't like it when his father was home.

"Doesn't Daddy like my pictures?"Bill would ask.

"He's just very busy and distracted a lot," his mother would answer. "Everything's okay."

Then one day, it wasn't okay.

His mother had started to become agitated and worried a lot. She glanced around when they walked home from the library, like they were being followed. She started drawing the shades even during the day, then peeking out.

"What's wrong mommy?"

"Shhh Bill, we have to keep an eye on things. You never know what they might do," she muttered.

A couple days, she skipped his lessons and spent most of the day checking out what the neighbors were doing by peering around the curtains. Gradually, she stopped giving him his lessons every day so he would try to do them by himself. She didn't smile as much and she didn't want to take him to the library even when Bill begged her. His father came home for one of his visits and his parents spent the entire visit fighting although he wasn't sure why. When his father left again, Bill was relieved thinking things might get better, but they got worse.

One day, he was playing in the backyard, had been for hours since his mother was pacing inside the dark house and showed no signs of going through his work books with him. He had a little garden trowel and was digging a hole near the flower bed, watching the worms squirming away as he exposed them to the sunlight. He was wiping his runny nose continually since his mother had forgotten to give him his allergy medicine. Then he heard a scream and his mother came running out of the house.

"BILL! Get away from there! Bill!" She ran up, her hair wild from not having been brushed for days. She wrapped her arms around Bill and yanked him away from the hole he was digging. Then she frantically kneeled in front of the hole and tried to put the soil and grass back with her bare hands. "Bill, are you okay? Did the fire burn you? Oh my god, the flames!" Then she snatched him back up and ran into the house carrying him.

Once they got into the darkness of the house she calmed down a little, but set him on a chair and started checking under his clothes."Are you okay Bill? Oh my little Billy! What would I do if anything happened to you? What were you doing in the fire, sweetheart?" she demanded, as she hugged him so tight he could barely breath.

"What fire Mommy?" What was she talking about?

"The fire Billy, shooting out of that hole! You need to promise me you will never do that again!" she insisted. "Do you promise?"

"But Mommy….what….."

"BILL! Listen to me! It's very dangerous outside. You could get hurt or worse. Do you understand?" she demanded as she leaned down and stared into his eyes intensely.

Bill was very scared. What fire was she talking about? What would have happened if he kept digging that hole? It sounded like something bad would have happened. "Yes Mommy," he answered. "I promise….I won't do that again."

His mother's breathing slowed down and her grip lessened. She staggered down the dark hallway to her bedroom and Bill creeped after her, worried about what would happen. He found her sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes were darting marbles shadowed by her hanging hair. Normally her hair was so pretty Bill thought, so he decided to do something about it. Picking up her hairbrush, he climbed onto the bed behind her and started brushing it. Gradually she relaxed and her hair looked a bit smoother.

Reaching around, she pulled Bill close. "You're my special little boy, you know that? I won't let anything bad happen to you…not ever. Promise me, you'll do what I say Bill, so you can stay safe."

Bill clutched his mother's hairbrush, squeezed inside her arms, in the dark room and he promised. "I'll be good Mommy, I promise."

As his mother drifted off leaning against the headboard, still clutching him, she murmured, "I'll never let anything happen to you Billy,never,never,never,never….."

There were a few good days, where she seemed more like her old self and Bill thought everything would be okay again. His father came home and there was no fighting this time. Bill didn't know how to tell him what had happened since he never got to speak to him.

Then his father left again and things became much worse.

His mother wouldn't let him out of the house and she wouldn't leave either. They started running out of things like milk and eggs, so Bill ate his cereal out of the box since he was hungry. She had stopped doing laundry and dishes piled up in the sink. Instead she paced and fervently looked out the windows, gripping the curtains like a lifeline. It got to the point, that they ran out of food, or food that Bill could fix himself anyway. He was very hungry, but his mother wouldn't go to the store because "they" might get her. And no amount of pleading or crying would change her mind. She was barely eating herself, so when she'd fix something, Bill would eat most of it.

He was in the laundry room off the kitchen stuffing his clothes into the washing machine, standing on a chair and trying to figure out how much detergent to put in. He read the directions with the colorful cartoon pictures carefully, used the little cup and hit start. The machine started dispensing water, then it chugged round and round. Pleased with himself for figuring this out, he got down, and noticed his mother's purse sitting on the kitchen chair. She was in her bedroom with the door shut, had been for hours. He was doing the laundry, maybe he could do the grocery shopping too? He was almost seven now, he knew about money and how to read prices. So, he snuck out of the house and walked down to the grocery store which was across the street from the library.

Surprisingly, he only received glances from the other adult shoppers. He quietly roamed the market pushing a cart and they assumed that his mother must be around someplace. After selecting food that he liked and could fix like microwaveable pizza, bananas, bread, jam, sliced cheese, cereal and milk, he went through the line.

"Where's your mommy honey?" The cashier asked, brushing back her blue tipped hair.

"She's outside in the car," Bill lied. Somehow, he knew it would be a problem if they found out he was there by himself. The woman shook her head, but accepted the money he handed her. To his relief, it was enough.

His euphoria at getting out of the market didn't last long when he realized how heavy the items were. The gallon of milk was very heavy and he had to keep shifting it between hands. A couple times he set it down on the sidewalk to rest for a second. He was very happy to see his house coming into view.

His mother was no longer asleep.

She came running out of the house, screaming at Bill. "Where have you been? What happened? It's dangerous out here Bill!" Bill tried to show her the food he had bought, but she had completely lost it, practically hysterical that Bill had left the house. All this yelling attracted the neighbors who were poking their heads out of their doorways and asking if anything was wrong. And someone called the police.

The car pulled up, and his mother grabbed him and tried to run into the house, leaving the food on the ground. The cop was faster.

"Ma'am! Ma'am! You need to stop right now!" he ordered.

It went downhill from there. His mother tried to fight the cops, screaming about "them" trying to get her and Bill. It was very scary to Bill and he started crying, from fear, hunger, and thinking the cops would hurt his mother. Some of the neighbors came out and told the police how they hadn't seen her or Bill for weeks. The unkept yard and the way the house looked inside, which the officer could see from the doorway pretty much sealed his mother's fate.

The next couple weeks were a terrifying blur to Bill. Child Services removed him from his home while the police tried to contact his father. Unfortunately, they found him. He wasn't on a business trip though like he'd been telling them. He was living in Arkansas with another wife and their children. Then they discovered a third wife and family in Texas. Bill's mother was his most recent wife. The newspapers had a field day debating whether he was a bigamist or a trigamist? Bill snuck a look at the pictures of the other families. His father posed with an older woman and teenage kids, looking happy and decent. Bill wondered if his father had liked the pictures that those other kids drew.

Bill's mother's father lived in Shreveport and he was granted custody of Bill even though he was an older man. Bill had barely ever seen him since his mother had fought with her father a great deal. He lived alone in a tidy little ranch in a mature neighborhood and he didn't drive. He walked and took the bus. A retired professor from the local community college, he had bookshelves groaning with books, so Bill liked the house right away. A thoughtful man, he tried to explain to Bill that what happened wasn't his mother's fault and that she was sick. But Bill still angry at his mother.

Once his mother was somewhat stable, they went to see her in the hospital, but she barely seemed to know her son. She was more concerned about being held against her will and blamed her father for keeping her there. Bill didn't want to go see her after that.

School started and for the first time he had to deal with teachers, classrooms and other children. Even with the interruption in his education at home, his very high IQ and the fact he was far ahead of other kids his age in his schooling drove the decision to skip him ahead. Being around other much older children was difficult and he avoided other kids. Fortunately, there were a couple children his age living in his grandfather's neighborhood, so he had someone to play with.

After a while, he and his grandfather got used to each other and developed their own routine. It helped that they never really had to cook anything. His grandfather seemed to have an array of female friends of the older persuasion and they loved to drop off ready to heat casseroles for him and his "adorable grandson". Bill had to tolerate much hair tousling and cheek pinching, but there was usually something good in the offing liked home baked cookies or banana bread (with no nuts of course). When Bill asked him how he had so many women friends, his grandfather answered," Billy, women want someone who listens and is kind. If you do that, girls will like you." Well, it worked for his grandfather. He'd wear an old fashioned jacket with tie and an honest to God flower in the button hole. After making sure Bill looked nice and neat, as did his gray beard and glasses, they'd troop off to visit many of these lady friends on Sunday, after church.

So, it wasn't so bad living there. Bill would come home from school, take a casserole out of the fridge, read the cursive directions written on flowered notepaper, preheat the oven , then put it in. His Grandfather usually took his nap around this time, so Bill would go wake him once the casserole was ready. He would do his homework at the kitchen table, then read some more which his Grandfather encouraged. Sometimes he'd play outside with the other kids. His Grandfather considered all TV to be garbage, so there was no television.

One day, he came home like always, got the casserole heating up and the table set when he went to wake his Grandfather. But, this time his Grandfather didn't wake up.

Bill just stood there for a while, staring at the first dead person he'd ever seen. The silence in the room was interrupted by the birds singing outside. What was he going to do? Once people knew, they'd take him away and what would happen to him then? First he removed his Grandfather's glasses and put them on the nightstand with the book he'd been reading. Patting his Grandfather's cold hand, he pulled the blanket over the peaceful, wrinkled face, left the room and shut the door behind him. He told no one.

For a couple days he pretended that his Grandfather had gone on a trip and would be back soon. He went to school, heated up the casseroles, and imagined that any day now….it would be okay. But bodies don't allow the living to forget them and the smell started to permeate the rest of the house. Bill sprayed air freshener all over the place, but that didn't mask it very well. Eventually, one of his Grandfather's well meaning lady friends came to check on things and that was that.

Child services took Bill away from another home and checked on his father's situation. By this point, Bill's father was in prison for tax evasion as well as the bigamy charges, not that he would have wanted Bill anyway. So, Bill ended up a ward of the state of Louisiana. Bouncing around from foster home to foster home, his life was in a constant state of flux with no one to depend on. He finally felt a little bit safer when he'd ended up with Ms. Jo. She actually cared, even when she was yelling at you and she never forgot a birthday, or what you were allergic to, or some event you had at school. The tightness that Bill had been carrying around in his belly started to loosen.

Like a lot of kids in his situation, he didn't want to get too close to anyone, while he waited for people to leave him, or forget about him or just display their utter lack of real interest in him. Once he met Eric, all that changed. He no longer felt like he was alone. The past couple years, he had started to feel like he was almost a normal kid with a shot at a normal life. And that maybe someday, he'd be good enough that no one would ever want to leave him again.

"But you are a good person!" Sookie insisted, holding Bill's hands tightly as she'd listened to his narrative. It had gotten very quiet and there was a good chance bedcheck was upon them. "None of that stuff was your fault! Some people are just …sick….and can't help themselves. And your Grandfather was old when he died, it's not like that was your fault Bill. It's not!" She grabbed him around the shoulders, squeezing him tightly.

"It's not fair," Bill mumbled against her hair.

"Yeah"

"Other kids get to have parents and brothers and sisters and a dog and all that stuff."

"Not all kids,"Sookie murmured softly. Bill pulled back and tried to see her face in the darkness.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"My parents….they died several years ago," she whispered. Her voice was so low that Bill could barely hear her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Bill said lamely, not sure what else to say. They stood quietly for a few seconds, then he asked," Where did you go?"

"My brother and I went to live with my Gran, but she got sick this past year and now she's in the hospital. We're staying with my ….my uncle…my great uncle…her brother." Sookie's voice took on a hard, chilly tone.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Bill said, picturing someone like his grandfather. "At least he's family."

"I'd rather be with strangers," she said stiffly. "And I miss my Gran so much. I'm scared she won't get better and she'll die in that hospital and I'll never see her again."

Bill held Sookie tightly, since there was nothing he could say that would make her feel better. At least they had each other he thought.

"Well, at least we're together and we can help each other out you know," he said, trying to sound cheerful. A tiny sniffle against his neck was the only response. Then they could hear some counselors walking by and talking, on their way to do bedchecks.

"Oh! I need to get in my cabin and you need to get to yours Bill! I don't want you to get into trouble." Sookie said urgently. She pulled the hoodie off and gave it back to Bill. Bill quickly yanked it over his head.

"It'll be okay, and Sookie?"

"Yes?" she said as they were pulling away from each other, glancing past the bushes to see any adult outlines in the darkness.

"I'll talk to Eric. I'm sorry if he was mean to you. He's really a cool guy."

"Really?" she said, sounding doubtful.

"He's my best friend, I know him…it'll be okay, okay? Give it a chance."

She still looked doubtful, but said," Okay, I'll try for you. But if he's rude to me again….."

"He won't be ..I promise!"

"Goodnight Bill, I've got to go!"

"Goodnight!" They frantically kissed quickly and with one more furtive look around, Sookie ran for her cabin.

Bill started back towards his as fast as he dared, trying to keep a lookout for counselors. He was grateful that his hoodie was black which blended in with the darkness a little.

Once he got close to it, he stopped in the nearby bush and listened carefully before making the final dash to his cabin. He froze as he thought he saw an adult outline out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned his head nothing was there. It was towards the tree line surrounding the campground area. The shadows must have been playing tricks on his eyes.

When he plunged into the cabin, he let out a huge sigh of relief and was promptly jumped by Lafayette.

"WHERE THE FUCK YOU BEEN?"

"Jesus! Get off of me Lafayette!" Bill cried, pushing his friend away. He ran for his bed and started changing out of his clothes as fast as he could. The other two boys in the cabin, who were already in bed, one reading a comic book , the other playing a handheld video game; stuck their noses out curiously to see the fuss.

"Man, you missed it!"

"Missed what?"

"Eric almost did a smack down on that sleazy, skinny dude from Hopeless High School, his boyfriend and that skanky sister."

Bill didn't have to ask who Lafayette meant. "Wha…how do you mean? What happened?"

"You didn't see cuz you was busy running after your girl. The rest of us wasn't that far behind you. Sam and I had been hanging at the picnic tables throwing down some cards with some brothers and Eric and his pink lady were sucking face at Witch's Corner. "

"Oh"

"Anyway, Eric caught enough of what happened with those skanks to say something to them. Then, that tall skinny dude…."

"Malcolm"

"Whatever…he starts talking big to Eric…about how he can't tell him what to do and all that shit. Eric tells him 'Oh yes I can, I'll open up a can of whoop ass on you and your skanks' …it was beautiful Bill! That skinny asshole starts backing down like the mother fucking chicken he is acting like he was only kidding and all that …HA!"

"Whoa" Bill said, so overwhelmed he wasn't even sure what else to say.

"Oh yeah, it was fucking PERFECT," Lafayette enthused. By this point, they were both in their beds sitting crosslegged. They were interrupted by a knock on the cabin door.

"Bedcheck!" The counselor called out while sticking his head in the door. "Everybody here? Everyone in bed?"

"Yes sir!" They all chimed.

"Very good…goodnight boys!" he said. Flicking the light off, he closed the door and was on his way.

"Lafayette?" Bill whispered in the dark. "Do you think Eric and Sookie hate each other?"

"Naw…they just had a mix up…it'll be okay….girls always like Eric anyway right?"

"Yeah," Bill replied slowly. "I guess they do. "

"You know what I mean. Girls always get in a snit about something then they get over it. It never makes any sense, you just gotta roll with it you know?"

Lafayette's words made Bill feel a little better, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Goodnight Lafayette."

"Of course I'm right, Night Bill."

Bill just rolled his eyes in the darkness.

The following week, there was a schedule shift for everyone since it was thought to be positive for the kids to expose them to various activities and different people. Bill was ecstatic to find that Sookie and he were in a class together. One that was inside the science building and involved utilizing the computers which allowed him to show Sookie what he could do. They were able to sit together and talk whenever the counselor wasn't giving instruction. None of their other friends were in the class, so Bill had Sookie all to himself more or less. They had also started sitting at dinner together with Eric, Amelia, Sam and Lafayette, then the activities afterward, and he would walk her back to her cabin before bedtime. So he managed to see her at least a couple times a day, sometimes more. He was in heaven.

Bill had begged with Eric to "make nice" with Sookie, so when Eric ended up having a nature class with Sookie, he sucked it up and made the effort for his friend. It was an outdoor class that required identifying plants or insects with a teammate. When the counselor told them to all find a partner, Eric looked around the group, then decided to ask Sookie. To his surprise, she said okay. Their first assignment: finding various leaves to match the ones displayed in their books, pick a leaf, place it in the paper bag they were carrying, then sort and identify them for the instructor. Sookie carried the bag and the book, trotting after Eric who was striding quickly like he knew where he was going.

"Hey! Wait up!" she called. "Where are you going anyway?"

"There's a bunch of trees over here that should have the leaves we need," Eric pronounced, as he continued marching ahead.

"But most of the other kids are over there," she said, pointing towards a small grove of trees near the cabins.

"So? I know where I'm going, and this way they can't cheat off of us and we'll get done before anyone else."

"We're not being graded and it's not a competition. Why are we going all the way over here? Eric!"

"You'll see," he answered. "This is one of them right?" He pointed, then ran over to the tree, jumping up and snagging a couple leaves. He waved the leaf at Sookie and she opened the book to do a comparison. For a moment the two stood quietly, head to head studying the leaf and the picture.

"Yeah, this looks like an American Elm," Sookie stated. "We have to pay attention to how the leaves are lined up on the branches."

"Why?"

"Weren't you paying attention?"

"Uh, no not really."

Sookie shook her head,"If the leaves are symmetrically lined up on the branch or alternating..like footsteps you know? That makes a difference, especially if their leaves are similar to other trees."

"Oh"

"I don't get it."

"What?"

"How you and Bill are friends. You're so different!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eric asked, prepared to go on the defensive.

Seeing his face, Sookie added hastily," I didn't mean that was bad. It was just well….." She shrugged. "Let's find the next leaf," she suggested.

They continued walking around, gathering and identifying the leaves…or more accurately….Eric bounded around with Sookie jogging to catch up…as they gathered and identified leaves.

"Are you always like this?" Sookie gasped, breathless from keeping up with Eric.

"Yes!" Eric proclaimed as he pulled himself up a short, twisted tree. "Here's another one right?"

He held out the skinny branch with the leaves on it, then waited as Sookie did the comparison. He was pleased to see a big smile spread across her face. "That's it! We have them all!"she exclaimed. Her eyes seemed to shift colors in the sunlight Eric noticed.

"Race you back!" Eric yelled and he ran back to where the counselor was standing under a tree, answering the occasional inquiry. He dived into the cool grass in the shade and waited for Sookie to catch up.

"That was SO unfair!"Sookie protested, trotting up holding the book and bag, her ponytail bouncing.

"Are you two finished already?" the counselor asked in surprise.

"Yes," they answered in unison, then laughed.

"Alright, let's take a look." They showed the counselor their leaves and identified what each one was correctly. He was impressed. "You know what? You two can sit and relax while everyone else finishes up."

Eric responded by throwing himself down on the grass and rolling around yelling," I'm king of the world!"

Sookie laughed," You're crazy! You know that?" She sat down next to him and leaned back, stretching her legs out. "We did really good." She added, with a very satisfied expression.

"Yep," Eric answered, "We made a good team."

They sat smugly in the shade, watching the other kids trudge around sweating and craning their necks up at trees. Eric was especially pleased watching Liam and Diane trying to figure out different leaves, squinting in the sunlight. He didn't tell Sookie that was the reason he had taken her away from the other kids. He didn't want to give the Skank Squad any reason to talk shit to Sookie, thereby forcing Eric to kick some ass when the counselor wasn't around. Eric wasn't afraid of a fight, but he was in too good a mood and didn't want to get kicked out of camp. He and Amelia had a few more make out sessions and it was getting really good. As soon as they could get some serious alone time he was going to see if she'd put her mouth on his….

"Eric? Eric!" Sookie's voice interjected on his little fantasy.

"Huh? What?"

"I've asked you the same question twice!" she announced, her eyes looked almost grey in the shade and they were staring right at him.

"Sorry, I zoned out…what did you want?"

"Did you take us over there on purpose?" It seemed she was reading his mind.

"Uh, yeah."

"Why? Did you not want people seeing us ..together?" she asked, her face forming into a sad frown. Okay, maybe she couldn't read his mind.

"No! I just didn't want to be around those skanks, Diane and Liam. I know they were giving you shit the other night."

Her face flushed pink, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say you were….I'm sorry. My Gran says I need to give people the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes I forget that."

"No big thing," Eric said as he shrugged. "I just didn't want to give them any reason to run their mouth cuz then I might have to kick some ass."

"Why would you do that?"

"You're Bill's girlfriend, so I've gotta look out for you when he's not around," Eric answered.

"So, you're like protecting me?" She looked at him, appearing shocked as her eyes got bigger.

"I guess." He shrugged again.

"Wow"

"It's nothing. I just hate assholes like that." He added, becoming uncomfortable under her admiring gaze.

"Oh" She looked down, digging around the grass where they were sitting, plucking little sprigs of clover.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for four leaf clover, if I find one, I'll give it to you." She explained, smiling at him. The sunlight crept through the leaves of the canopy overhead and her hair shone like spun gold. Eric couldn't take his eyes off of it.

"Thanks," was all he said.

The rest of the week settled into a pleasant routine. Bill was happy to see that Eric and Sookie seemed to be getting along, although he got a little agitated when they would laugh together about something that happened in their nature class. Sookie had spoken glowingly about Eric's pronouncement that he would keep Liam and Diane from bothering her and so far it had worked. Bill couldn't bring himself to argue about it since she seemed so happy and was laughing a lot with him. They spent as much time together as possible and when Lafayette and Sam had stated she was "very cool", Bill had been so proud he wanted to burst. He loved walking hand in hand with her and putting his arm around her waist so everyone would know she was his.

They all hung out Friday night, together and this time Sookie let Bill choose the movie. "It's only fair" she'd said. The next day was the camp's official open house when the camper's families could come visit and see what their dollars were paying for and see where their precious children were sleeping. All the campers had to get up early that day to help get the campground cleaned up. Not a single speck of trash was allowed to be floating about and each cabin was carefully inspected. Bill and Eric never really cared for it since no one ever came to see them, anyway. Ms. Jo had too many things to do back home and needed to be there for Bubba and Maxwell Lee. Terry B. was busy doing work on the house that was impossible to do with all the boys living there, like plumbing and painting their rooms.

This year, it wasn't so bad since Bill was able to just hang out with Eric, Sookie, and his friends since Sookie and her brother's Uncle wasn't coming anyway. Sookie seemed to be completely unconcerned about that and they spent a happy afternoon at the water inlet, swimming and jumping off the tire swing. After getting cleaned up they made their way towards the dining hall. Other kids were already there with their parents , eating hotdogs and s'mores heated up over the giant firepits that could be seen from the cabins in the darkness. Last year, this day had seemed so long to Bill, watching all the kids with their families. This time, it had seemed like the day had sped by. They hadn't even stopped for lunch because they were having so much fun at the water, once it was twilight they realized they were hungry and now it was nighttime and the day was almost over. He and Sookie swung their hands together as they walked along, as he mused about this.

"BILL!"

"Huh?" He jerked, looking over at his friends, who were staring at him.

"They is calling you Bill," Lafayette said.

"Who?"

"The front office, they're paging you to go up to the office," Eric said, frowning. No one ever got called up there unless they were in trouble or something. Eric knew this from personal experience. "Do you know why?"

"Uh, no," Bill said, his mind racing over all the possible things he could be in trouble for. He wondered if they knew about his activities with the library computers or his late night forays with Sookie. Sookie held his hand tight, looking worried.

"Don't admit to anything, " Eric explained with the authority of someone in the know. "Let them tell you what it's about. Don't confess, just play dumb. You got that?"

Bill was getting nervous now, his hands getting sweaty. "Okay, what could it be?"

"It'll be okay, just do what Eric said," Sam soothed, nodding along.

With a final squeeze of Sookie's hand, Bill trotted off towards the front office. It was the primary office and it was always staffed , even at night since the front gate would be closed after dark and they monitored anyone driving onto the grounds, even for deliveries. During the open house, the parents had to park their cars in a grassy area next to the front gate, sign in along with any other children they'd brought and walk from there. This way the counselors could track everyone coming onto the grounds.

Bill racked his brain trying to think of what they were going to do to him. He couldn't be sent home, he just couldn't! Not while he was having the best camp ever and he had a girlfriend and everything. He took a deep breath and remembered Eric's advice. Don't blab or confess to anything. Let them talk first. He repeated this a few more times.

He passed a few sets of parents who had come early in the afternoon and were leaving now. When he got close to the office, it struck him that there were more male counselors up there than normal. Usually, the female counselors did most of the meeting and greeting. And all of them were staring at Bill as he ran up. His heart started really going now. What could he have possibly done?

Then he saw a very familiar looking red Corvette parked with the other cars. No way, it couldn't be could it? There had to be other red Corvettes right? He jumped onto the porch and opened the screen door with a slam. Skidding into the office, he was stunned to see the Corvette's owner.

The vampire Mr. Northman was standing there talking to the head of the camp Mr. Raymond Benson (related by marriage to the camp nurse). A bunch of male counselors in their green polo shirts and khaki pants stood around the office, eyeing the vampire and trying to look natural about it. The vampire looked even taller than Bill remembered and he seemed so much whiter. His long blond hair was neatly pulled back into an intricate braid down his broad shoulders. He wasn't dressed like a rocker this time, but wearing a long sleeved, button down shirt that looked like silk with dress slacks and shiny brown loafers.

"Mr. Northman!"Bill exclaimed as he stopped in front of the big vampire and the head of the camp.

"Bill," the vampire greeted him with a nod of the head. His face seemed to be quite stiff, his eyes were very wide and if Bill didn't know any better he would have thought the vampire was in pain.

"Bill, is this your postcard?" Mr. Benson asked carefully, as he held out the camp postcard that Bill had mailed to the vampire. Bill had forgotten that it had an invitation with the date and time of the open house on the front with the pretty photo of the grounds. It had never even occurred to him that the vampire would interpret that as an invitation to visit.

"Uh, yeah," Bill answered since it wasn't like he could deny it. It clearly had his handwriting and his signature on it.

"Follow me son, we need to have a little talk," the counselor said and he gesture for Bill to follow him into the back office. Bill's stomach started shaking as he realized how much trouble he really was in and he trudged after Mr. Benson. "Mr. Northman, please wait here for a couple minutes please?"Mr. Benson asked awkwardly.

"No problem at all," the vampire replied, standing in a relaxed posture looking around curiously. Boy, did he stand out Bill thought. Standing in the middle of all the tanned, green shirted men, his vampy white skin just glowed. The brilliant blue eyes practically pulsed from the white face as Bill glanced behind him when Mr. Benson closed the door.

TBC

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_A/N Boy Bill's backstory went a lot longer than I originally intended. I outlined his backstory over a year ago and decided to just go with it cuz it's kind of relevant to some things towards the end of this story. _


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N Charlaine Harris owns all the grown up versions of these characters, but not my adorable kiddie versions. _

_Thank you all for your patience. Unfortunately, 2011 is not turning out better than 2010 and in some ways it's been worse. June was a very stressful month. There have been things going on with my jobs (getting laid off from job#3, possible lay off from job #1) , and my POSC (piece of sh*t car) has pretty much emptied my savings account with constant big repair bills. When you're worried about paying your mortgage, it's hard to concentrate on storytelling. But , enough about my problems. Nesting Instincts next chapter is 75% done so I'm plugging away at it and hopefullly will have it done by this weekend or the following week at the latest. _

_Now, back to the fun stuff..._

_Recap: It's open house day at the kid's camp and parents are visiting their children. Bill has been called up to the main office near the front entry gate. To his shock, the vampire is standing in the office with a number of male counselors standing around trying to look casual. The head of the camp, Mr. Benson has called him into his office. _

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Mr. Benson closed the door behind Bill, "Take a seat please." He gestured towards the "hot seat" (as the kids called it) in front of his large wood desk. Stacks of papers were strewn across it, gathered around the computer monitor like supplicants making an offering.

Bill sat down in the chair and noticed that there were two other counselors he didn't really know sitting on the sofa against the wall. It was a major rule that no counselor was allowed to be alone with a camper. There always had to be others present. This and various other rules combined with the background checks on all counselors had prevented any sort of sordid, horrible things from happening at their camp and gave the parents some confidence regarding sending their children there.

"Perhaps you'd better explain this," Mr. Benson said, waving the card in front of Bill. Mr. Benson had a reputation for being tough, but fair. He always allowed you to have your say, but he was no fool. Lying to his face and trying to bullshit him would get you put on his "watch" list and then your time at camp was screwed.

Taking a breath, Bill frantically tried to think of what to say. It had NEVER occurred to him that the vampire would show up and since Bill had never had anyone come visit him at the camp anyway, why would a vampire care? "Uh, I sent him the postcard, but I didn't remember about the invitation on the front. I forgot."

"How could you forget that?" Mr. Benson responded. He seemed to think Bill was being shifty with him.

"Well, I've never had visitors before, so I just didn't think about it,honest!" Bill insisted.

"Do you know this vampire or did you just send this to him as a joke?"

"Um, I've met him before and I didn't mean it as a joke. I just didn't think about it. I had the extra postcard and I just thought it would be nice to wish him a good summer is all…" Bill's voice trailed off. He didn't know if this sounded any good to the counselors or not.

"Do you want him to leave Bill?"

"what?"

"Do you want me to ask him to leave?"

"Well, he's here , so I guess he could…"

"Bill…" Mr. Benson said slowly, obviously looking for his words."Has this vampire done anything inappropriate towards you?"

"What?"

"Has he done anything towards you or one of your friends that isn't appropriate? It's okay to tell me. I won't get upset. No one here will be upset with you. You're safe here. If he's threatened you or told you to do things that are wrong, we will help you, I promise."

Bill sat stunned staring into Mr. Benson's tanned face, the lines in his forehead creased above his bushy dark eyebrows. They were worried the vampire was some sort of pervert? What did they think he was going to do? Come to a summer camp and eat all the kids? Did they think the vampire was retarded too? Well, that was stupid.

"No!"

"No, what? Talk to me Bill, let me help you." His kind manner only agitated Bill more.

"No! He hasn't done anything bad to me! Nothing! I swear, " Bill realized his voice was rising and maybe this wasn't making the best impression. He swallowed and tried to think of how to explain this when there was a commotion in the front office and the door suddenly banged open.

Eric barged into the room, " What's going on ? Bill hasn't done anything!" His blue eyes were flashing and his long arms and legs were twitching all over.

"Surprise, surprise…look who showed up," one of the sofa counselor's said dryly.

"Do you know anything about this?" Mr. Benson asked, holding up the card for Eric to see.

"Uh, it's a camp postcard," Eric said, trying to figure out what the deal was.

"Did you put Bill up to this?"

"Up to what?" Eric asked. Why did people always assume he was up to something?

"Bill sent this postcard to the vampire standing out in the front office," Mr. Benson explained. "Did you put him up to it?"

"There's a vampire in the office?" Eric asked blankly. He turned and peeked out the doorway, observing that there was indeed a very tall familiar vampire standing completely still, except for his thumb that was scrolling down his cell phone's little screen with dizzying speed. "Mr. Northman?"

The vampire's eyes latched onto him. They were even more brilliantly blue than he remembered. "Good evening Eric," the vampire responded, a slight smile playing across his lips.

"Um, hi."

Mr. Benson got up and closed the door again. He turned towards both boys, holding up the card. "Now, I want a straight answer out of both of you. What were you doing sending this card to a vampire?"

"Nothing!" Bill cried, the stress starting to press upon him. "I was just telling him to have a nice summer! That's all! I didn't think he would show up! No one ever shows up to visit me, EVER!" To his humiliation, his voice started shaking and he was terrified he'd start crying.

Seeing that Bill was about to have one of his famous meltdowns, Eric jumped in, " What does it matter anyway? We can invite anyone we want! The card doesn't say no vampires allowed does it?" He crossed his arms defiantly ready to argue his point.

Mr. Benson started massaging his forehead and glanced at the other counselors, one of whom said, "The cards don't specify family only. It just says you have to present the invitation to attend the open house. "

"Well, of course it does!" the other sofa counselor said. "It was assumed kids would only invite family or friends. Maybe we'll need to modify them next year."

"What do you think?" Mr. Benson asked them. There was more to his question than what he was saying.

"You can request that he leave, but if you refuse him entrance based on being a vampire…well..that might cause issues with the AVL if he wants to make an issue about it. And that would result in publicity …the papers might get ahold of it. It would make an easy headline. It might be easier to see what he wants first. Most of the parents are leaving now anyway and the kids will be heading to their cabins in a couple hours. It might be easier to just let him…." The sofa counselor made a smoothing hand motion.

Eric stood glaring at the counselors talking about the vampire like he was an escaped psycho prisoner. This was so stupid! If they wanted to show the vampire around their camp, why not? He, Bill, Lafayette and Sam never received visitors during open house. Wasn't it better that someone came to see them than no one at all?

"Mr. Benson?" Bill's voice asked.

"Yes, Bill."

"Couldn't Mr. Northman visit for a just a little bit?" he asked imploringly. Someone actually showed up to visit him and they weren't going to be allowed on the grounds. This was so unfair!

Mr. Benson continued his head rubbing, "Bill …you don't understand how some of the parents might feel about this….ah…." He looked down at Bill's young, narrow face, the brown eyes begging him. It was a sad day when a child was so desperate for a visitor that a vampire was welcome, he thought to himself.

"How do you boys know this vampire anyway?" One of the sofa counselors asked.

Bill and Eric gave each other a look, Eric's face said 'let me handle this', so Bill nodded in agreement. He proceeded to deliver a VERY modified version of their little trip to Fangtasia. They hadn't been going to Fangtasia, no siree bob…they went to the Toys R Us next door when they were mugged by some bikers and the vampire had taken care of it, given them new hoodies and driven them home.

"Was this ever reported?" the counselor asked.

"Um, no sir…we didn't tell anyone because we would have gotten in trouble for going that far without permission," Eric said, lowering his head and trying his best to appear ashamed. Bill imitated his friend's demeanor and nodded along in support.

The three counselors looked at each other. "Well, we can't leave him standing in the office all night," Mr. Benson sighed. "Call Josh and Tim to accompany him and the kids. I don't want them left alone."

Eric opened his mouth prepared to protest when Mr. Benson put his finger in his face, "STOP, I'm sorry, but you're going to have a chaperone. Just because I'm allowing this doesn't mean he should be trusted. He's not your family and you don't really know him. And I'm sorry, but he IS in fact a VAMPIRE. It's this way or not at all, got it?"

Eric settled back on his feet, and sullenly nodded.

Bill piped up, "Thank you, sir."

"I'm out of my mind, " the counselor muttered as they marched back out into the main office where the rest of the male counselors were no longer pretending to not watch the vampire text faster than they'd ever seen anyone text before.

"Is there a problem?" the vampire asked pleasantly, sliding his red cell phone into its little leather holder attached to his belt. His face still looked somewhat strained to Bill.

"Ah, Mr. Northman…I understand that the boys here would like to show you around our little facility, but I'm sure you realize that some of the parents might be concerned."Mr. Benson stopped for a second to see how the vampire was taking this. The white face didn't even flinch or react to what the counselor was saying. "So, to alleviate any possible concerns I'm going to send a couple counselors with you and the boys just so there's no misunderstandings. I'm sure you understand?" he asked hopefully.

"Do all the adults who come onto this facility have similar chaperones?" the vampire asked lightly.

"Well, most of the adults either work here and have been checked out or are related to the children …so…please understand I have to take this into consideration. I hope this is alright…ah…"

"I guess it will have to be, " the vampire stated flatly. His tone pretty much displayed his feeling on the subject.

The two boys had been standing somewhat impatiently, watching this tedious back and forth. Eric had had enough of it.

"So, you can come on in! Follow us!" Eric invited loudly, practically bouncing with glee at how incredibly cool they were going to be after having a real vampire visit them at open house. Bill noticed the vampire seemed to visibly relax at Eric's words, nodding to himself about something.

Mr. Benson still insisted on having the vampire sign the log book and he advised him he would need to be sure to sign out when he left. With a quick nod to the rest of the counselors, a quirked eyebrow at the two, tall men assigned to follow them; the vampire trailed after the excited boys.

Once they walked out into the darkness the vampire was much more relaxed, gazing around him with interest, striding along as the boys trotted next to him. The two counselors followed discreetly. His eyes focused down on Bill. "Bill, did you not intend for me to come? I don't care about these people, but if you don't want me here, I'll leave." he said.

Bill flushed, remembering what he'd told Mr. Benson in the office, " You heard that huh?"

"Yes, we vampires have excellent hearing. I could hear everything."

"Oh, I'm sorry…it's just that …I didn't even think…I never thought someone like you would want to come all the way out here and…."

"I didn't"

"Huh?"

"I didn't come all the way out here just to see you….I had business with someone nearby and this place is on the way, so I thought why not stop by?" Even in the shifting darkness, they could see the white face smiling, amused."

"Oh" The camp was in the middle of nowhere Louisiana, so Bill couldn't think of who the vampire would have had business with out in the woods.

"Anyway, I can't stay long since I do have a business to run, so give me the tour." He gestured grandly to the boys, the lit buildings they were coming upon and the dark woods surrounding the campground.

After a quickie whispered debate, Eric and Bill decided to show the vampire their cabins first, then the waterfront and then for the grand finale, the big hall. Most of the kids would be hanging around there after their parents left, still eating and talking about their day before being sent to their cabins for the night.

As they were trooping to their cabins, Bill decided to get something off his chest. "I'm sorry about what they said about you," he said, looking up at the vampire apologetically. The vampire looked surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"You know…back in the office…they made it sound like…"he had trouble deciding how to put it.

"Like you were a crazy perverted psycho!" Eric finished for him.

To their surprise, the vampire laughed! His white teeth practically shone in the darkness. "I'm used to it. I've been called worse, and words don't bother me….usually. You are fortunate these people care about you. This is a good country to be a child such as yourselves."

The two boys gazed up at him with puzzled expressions. The vampire smiled, reminiscing, "It wasn't that long ago that if your parents died and no other family could take you in…boys like yourselves would end up fending for themselves…doing whatever they had to for survival. Many of them died of violence or disease before reaching adulthood."

"Oh," Eric said. "It's still shitty though. They don't even know you!"

"Well, not all the members of my kind are willing to make the effort to coexist with humans. That man is merely being cautious. You are, after all, his responsibility," the vampire said simply. He shrugged. They were coming upon Bill's cabin. "Is this little house where you live?"

The boys laughed at that term. "It's a cabin, not a house!"Eric exclaimed.

"When I was human, a structure this nicely built would have been someone's permanent home," the vampire said, smiling. His smile faded as he got closer to the tiny building. The two boys ran inside the simple room with the wooden bunk beds, tables and chairs. The vampire stopped at the doorway, the strained expression was back upon his face, as his eyes studied the little room. "This is where you sleep?"

"Uh huh!" Bill replied, flopping down on the bed. "Come on in!" he said, waving his hand at the vampire while Eric had already seated himself at the table and was tipping himself back in one of the chairs.

The vampire's face smoothed out again into a relaxed expression and he glided inside and seated himself at the little table. The two counselors stayed outside which was fine by the boys who were still annoyed at being assigned chaperones like they were little kids.

"There are four beds," the vampire observed.

"Yeah, this one is mine and my three roommates are probably still at the dining hall with their parents. Eric's cabin is just over there," Bill explained, pointing out the window next to his bunk.

"I see. This seems quite pleasant."

"Yeah," Eric agreed. "It's much nicer than the camp we used to go to. It was a camp for charity cases and it sucked. They didn't have any money, so it wasn't nearly as nice as this one. Most of the kids here, their parents pay the full tuition and the camp offers some discount spots every year for kids like us."

Mr. Northman nodded at the explanation. He didn't seem to pity them, nor did he react to them being foster kids. Eric liked that. They sat for a few more minutes with the vampire asking questions about what they did there and what activities the camp had available. Then Bill said, "Let's show him the inlet and the boathouse." So they all trooped off towards the water.

There were a few other kids and their families roaming around the boathouse and inlet area. In the darkness, none of them took notice of the vampire and the two boys.

Eric pointed out along the glistening river as it softly flowed by, making those wonderful rushing noises that rivers make. "The camp ends at the river. The other side is the reservation."

"The reservation runs right up to the river?" the vampire asked, appearing interested in this information. He stood very still, studying the river and the trees rising up the embankment on the other side.

"Yeah, when we're canoeing we're not allowed to even get out on the other side which is a bummer. It would be cool to go searching for arrowheads and stuff like that."Eric explained.

"Most reservations are recent in the historical sense since these tribes were forced there in the past hundred or two hundred years. By then, most of them were using guns, not bow and arrow. You'd be just as likely to find arrowheads on this side of the water if you made the effort and looked."

"You think so?" Bill interjected. He'd always wanted to find one.

"Yes. Give me a moment, I'd like to take a look at something." Mr. Northman strolled along, following the inlet then up to wet, rounded rocks lining the river's edge. The two boys trotted behind him, then slammed to a stop as the vampire suddenly lifted off the ground and took flight across the river.

"Whoa!" Eric exclaimed.

"I told you!" Bill cried out.

"This is fucking AWESOME!"Eric yelled.

"Um, ? Where are you going?"Bill asked, becoming concerned.

The vampire floated several feet above the water slowly like a ghostly apparition. "I'll be back in a moment. I'd just like to check something." His voice echoed out in the darkness as he floated slowly away from them. His dark clothes were disappearing in the darkness, but his pale hair was shining like silver under the half moon overhead.

The boys then noticed that the two counselors assigned to follow them had run up to the water's edge exclaiming about what they were seeing. Josh had pulled out his ground's radio and was calling Mr. Benson. "Uh sir, we might have a problem."

"What's wrong?" came Mr. Benson's deep voice. "What's happened? Is it the vampire? Has he done something?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Spit it out!"

"He's levitating across the river."

"He's what?"

"He's floating..you know…flying across the water right now."

"Where's he going? "

"I don't know…."

"He said he's coming right back!" Eric interjected.

"Did you hear tha…"

"Yes, I heard it. Are there other people around?"

"Yes, sir."

"Great, so much for keeping his visit quiet. When he comes back, please remind him that we do not have permission to go onto the reservation and he needs to stay on our grounds, and ON the ground, alright?"

"Uh, okay."

"Call me if anything else happens."

Bill and Eric noticed what the two counselors were concerned about. There were only a few groups of people still walking around the boathouse area, but now that there was a very tall vampire floating across the river…well…they had noticed. There were a few little shrieks and some exclaiming…some of it with inappropriate language. At least one of the parental units had dragged their excited children away towards the big hall. This might be bad, especially if they complained.

"Do you think Mr. Northman might get in trouble?" Bill whispered to Eric.

"No, why would he? He hasn't done anything wrong." Eric insisted. "He hasn't set foot on the reservation right? So there!" The vampire had indeed NOT stepped foot on the ground across the river, but was floating above it following the embankment, staring at the ground from what they could see.

To their relief, he turned and started floating back. Once he softly, landed on the ground again, the counselor Josh advised him of what Mr. Benson had said. Where upon the vampire stated what Eric had told Bill; that he had NOT stepped foot on the reservation. The poor counselor apologetically explained that the camp didn't wish to cause any issues with the reservation and passed along Mr. Benson's request regarding staying on the grounds. The vampire nodded and shrugged after which the counselor went back to stand with Tim, acting like he'd just survived some dangerous encounter.

The two boys headed for the big hall, gesturing for the vampire to follow them. Bill was burning with curiosity. "Mr. Northman….um…why did you do that?"

"What? You mean levitating?"

"Uh huh"

"I didn't want to get my clothes wet."

"No, I mean…were you looking for something?" Bill asked. Eric peered up at the vampire too. His face wore an identical questioning expression.

"I was curious about something…it was nothing."

"Oh" Bill knew a grownup brush off when he heard one. Bill was about to ask another question when the vampire's phone began to buzz. Faster than the eye could see he had the little red phone next to his ear.

"Yes, I texted you…the wards here are unbelievable…I need to know who and why. What? Oh…." The vampire looked down and addressed the boys," What's the name of this camp again?"

"Driskill Mountain Camp For Kids" Bill answered promptly.

He turned back to his phone," Did you hear that? Yes, I know Driskill Mountain is actually a hill, that doesn't matter. It's a camp Pam…you know…camp as in camping outside. The children here get to spend time in the woods hiking and seeing nature."

Pause.

" No, it's not like the tv show Survivor, they are fed and housed here."

Pause.

"I have no idea…..just get the information. The reservation is right next to it, check there first."

Pause.

"Well, then get Compton If you have too. He loves boring research. Yes, that's fine." He clicked the phone off without saying goodbye and slid it back into its little holster on his belt.

"What's a ward?" Bill asked without missing a beat.

"It's nothing for you to concern yourself," the vampire responded.

"We have them here? Where are they?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Is that guy Mr. Compton going to find them on the internet for you?"

"How do you know so much about Mr. Compton?" the vampire asked, his eyes narrowing.

"You talked to him on your cell phone last time. He does your computer stuff. Are wards what you were looking for across the river?"

The vampire started looking a bit irritated. "You ask a lot of questions. You were much quieter the last time I saw you." He strode quickly ahead.

Eric mouthed silently behind the vampire's back, "Stop it! You'll piss him off and he'll leave."

Bill mouthed back,"What? I'm not doing anything. It was just a question"

Eric waved at him dismissively and they trotted to catch up. The lights and noise from the big hall became apparent as they walked closer.

The vampire noticed the circle of rocks along the wood's edge. "What is that place?"

Eric laughed. "Oh that….it's been there forever…no one knows where they come from or why they're there….the kids call it Witches Corner."

"I see. How appropriate," the vampire replied thoughtfully. "Do you use it for any activities?"

"No, unless you count making out as an activity," Eric pronounced boldly.

The vampire laughed even louder than he had before. "Yes, I most definitely consider that to be an activity." The boys were relieved that he seemed to be over his irritation from a minute before.

The boys were abuzz with anticipation over walking into the big hall in the company of the vampire. Eric was excited that the other kids would think they were totally cool. Bill was worried that there would be trouble. What if someone said something rude to the vampire or did something that angered him? And what if he was hungry? After all, it wasn't like they had any True Blood to offer the vampire. It occurred to him to ask about this.

"Um, Mr. Northman?"

"Yes"

"Ah…you're not hungry or anything are you?" Bill asked awkwardly, unsure of whether he'd be annoying the vampire again.

Fortunately, the blue eyes twinkled and his mouth quirked, "No, I dined earlier. Thank you for asking."

"Oh…cool," Bill said, relieved. He didn't want to think about what the vampire meant by 'dining'.

They walked into the big hall which was lit up both by a fire in the stone fireplace at one end and the fluorescent lights overhead. Both boys noticed immediately how washed out and white the vampire appeared under the lights. Since it was getting late, only a few clumps of parents remained visiting with their children and having dinner. Everyone was eating hot dogs, roasted corn on the cob, and s'mores that had been wrapped in foil. When they were opened, there would be "ooooh's and ahhhh's" reacting to the chocolatey gooey goodness.

Sam and Lafayette were sitting at one of the tables and were working on the dessert portion of their meal. They were arguing about the best way to build a s'more when Bill and Eric walked up with the vampire trailing behind. The stunned expression on their faces was quite gratifying.

"Yo," Eric offered casually, like he walked into the big hall accompanied by vampires everyday.

"Hey," Sam replied, through the chocolate smeared around his mouth.

Bill decided introductions were in order. "This is Mr. Northman. He owns Fangtasia, that vampire club. This is Lafayette and Sam. They live in the home with us."

The vampire nodded. "Good evening," he said.

"Hello," Sam answered. Lafayette on the other hand, seemed to be speechless for the first time in his life. He just sat there holding a graham cracker in one hand and marshmallow in the other. Sam gave him a not so subtle jab in the ribs which popped a few words loose.

"Yo, how you doing?" Lafayette asked.

The vampire settled into one of the plastic chairs and folded his large white hands in front of him. "What are you children doing?," he asked, gesturing towards the foil packets and opened Hershey's candy bars.

"We're making S'mores," Sam replied.

"What?" The vampire's forehead displayed his puzzlement.

"S'mores….like you know….Some More…that's what they're called," Sam explained slowly.

"Why are they called that?"

"Because once you eat one, you want SOME MORE," Eric interjected as he sat next to the vampire. Bill seated himself on the other side of the table next to Sam and tore a piece of aluminum foil.

"Here, watch this," Bill directed. He took a graham cracker and snapped it in two, then he put part of a Hershey's chocolate bar on one of the graham crackers, laid an oversized marshmallow on top of it, topped it with the 2nd half of the graham cracker, smooshed it all together and wrapped it in the aluminum foil. "See?" he said, holding it up for the vampire to view.

"Then what do you do with it?"

"You put it on the grill or hot coals of a fire, let it get warmed up so it gets all gooey…and then…."

"You eat it!"Eric interrupted. He picked up one of the charred foil packets from in front of Lafayette, opened it and showed it to the vampire. Brown goo oozed out along the edges of the crackers, the sticky white marshmallow appeared tinged in black and clung like glue as Eric gingerly separated the crackers.

"That looks like a mess," the vampire observed.

"But it tastes awesome, so you don't care," Eric explained.

"I see."

"Did you have anything like this when you were a boy?" Bill asked, as he continued methodically wrapping up another S'more.

The vampire looked startled at the question. "No," he answered. There was an awkward silence, while the boys waited for him to continue.

Bill realized he might have stepped over a line and maybe the vampire grew up poor," I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude," he said apologetically.

The large blue eyes stared at Bill from the pale face that was almost as white as the marshmallows they were using. "I'm not offended," the vampire said gently. "It was just unexpected….you asking. To answer your question…we didn't have anything like this because the peoples of Europe hadn't discovered South America yet ,which is where cocoa beans come from I believe. And sugar was a very expensive commodity. Most of our sweet foods were made from honey or fruits of some type and they were special treats, not eaten year round."

The boys stayed quiet listening and Bill's face got a squelchy look that Eric recognized. It meant Bill was calculating something. Before Eric could kick him under the table, Bill just plowed ahead.

"But didn't Christopher Columbus discover America in 1492?" Bill asked.

"As far as most Europeans were concerned….yes," the vampire replied, giving a slight eye roll.

"You must be really old!"Bill blurted.

Eric gave him a hard look across the table and there came a yelp from Sam. "Hey! Watch it!" he exclaimed, reaching down to rub his leg and glaring at Eric.

Mr. Northman ignored the commotion under the table and responded to Bill's comment. "Yes, I am."

The boys sat eyeing each other, wondering if one of them would be brave enough to ask the question. Eric was giving hard little head shakes to Bill, who looked like he was ready to burst, he wanted to ask so badly. The vampire reached over and tore off a little sheet of foil and started putting together a S'more the way Bill had demonstrated. While he was doing that, Bill decided to try a different tack.

"Where are you from...like…originally?" Bill thought that was a nice, safe question.

The vampire didn't take his eyes off his S'more while he answered," I was born in one of the Northern European countries…around Sweden perhaps." He was silent for a moment and the boys were quiet as mice waiting for more. A slight smile played across his lips then he continued. "My people were what are now referred to historically as Vikings."

There was a collective gasp around the table, even Lafayette had stopped eating and ignored the oozing S'more cooling off in front of him.

" You were a Viking…like a real Viking, VIKING? For real?" Eric asked, his voice crackled and shifted pitch with his excitement.

"For real," the vampire answered, and he placed the carefully wrapped S'more on the little pile the boys had going.

Everyone looked at each other in amazement. This was too cool. A Viking vampire sitting at their table making S'mores! Just as the boys were about to ask about five hundred questions, they were interrupted.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N Charlaine Harris owns vampire Eric and the grown up versions of all these characters. The young cute ones are mine. _

_All boo boos are my own._

_I had this chapter partially done for a while, then I was taking a break from Nesting Instincts this weekend and decided to complete this chapter. Nesting is going well (10 thou words and counting) and when it's posted, there will be a contest with it, so watch for that when it appears! _

_FYI, try not to fit this story into Canon timeline too tightly, it won't really fit. Just go with it... :)_

_recap: _

_Vampire Eric showed up on Open House Day at camp due to Bill sending him a postcard that had an invitation on the back. The two boys have been showing him around and he's sitting at the tables with them and their friends in the Big Hall. _

_88888888888888888888888888888_

"Hey guys!"

A flash of pink and Eric was enveloped in a tight hug. Normally, Amelia's aggressive affection was welcome, but he was a little embarrassed with the vampire sitting right there next to him. Sookie was with her and had quietly slid into a chair next to Bill. Bill put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him. Bill and Sookie were so boring.

"Ah, this is my girlfriend, Amelia," Eric gasped out, since she was choking him a little.

"So, I gathered," the vampire commented dryly.

"Hi!" Amelia said brightly, energy just emanating from her like a high wattage light bulb.

"This is …um..Mr. Northman…you know, the guy I told you about?" Eric said, trying to avoid saying 'the vampire I told you about' out loud. It didn't matter with Amelia.

"I know, the vampire! Everyone is talking about it," she replied.

Everyone at the table discreetly looked around and realized that a number of the little clumps of parents/children and counselors were in fact, staring at their table expectantly.

"What are they watching for?" Bill asked quietly.

"They're wondering if I'm going to attack you," the vampire answered, chuckling very low. "That woman with dyed blond hair is calling the head of your camp from her cell phone to complain, and he in turn is talking to one of the men chaperoning us right now."

"You can hear that?" Bill asked, his eyes getting bigger. "What are they saying?"

"The camp head is asking what I'm doing."

"And what is Tim saying?" Eric interjected. This was great, it was like spy stuff.

"He's telling him I'm making S'mores." And then the vampire burst out laughing, which caused all the children at the table to jump a little, it was so unexpected. When they saw the scared expressions of some of the adults in the hall, they started laughing too. It was so ridiculous!

As they all started calming down, Bill remembered he hadn't introduced his girlfriend yet. "Oh! I forgot, Mr. Northman, this is my girlfriend Sookie," he announced proudly. She looked so pretty with her shiny blond hair pulled back neatly into a bouncy ponytail. And she was wearing the white lacy top she'd had on the first time Bill had seen her, with the little red flowers.

The vampire abruptly stopped laughing, staring at the girl sitting next to Bill. "Your name is Sookie?"

"Yes sir," she replied politely.

"Pronounced like cookie?"

"Yes"

His lips pressed together tightly for a second. "That's an unusual name. Is it your actual given name or just a nickname?" he asked carefully.

"My Grandmother always said it was a good old fashioned Southern name," Sookie answered, as she reached out for a piece of foil and started putting together a S'more.

"I'm going to put these on the grills they still got going," Lafayette said as he grabbed the little pile of S'mores and high tailed it to the firepit areas.

Sam followed, saying ," I'll go too. He always puts them too close to the fire and burns them."

The vampire was still quietly watching Sookie and a muscle below his left eye started twitching a little. Bill frowned, noticing it and made a silent eye move at Eric. Eric observed this for two seconds and decided to slide his chair away from the vampire just a smidge. Fortunately, the two girls didn't notice since they were busily putting together S'mores. The counselors were walking around the tables and clearing them, so they had to get them made before the ingredients were removed.

Dragging his gaze from the girl, the vampire commented," I can't stay. And I assume you will all be going to bed shortly."

"Can't you stay just a little longer?" Eric asked, trying not to sound like he was begging. He'd just found out he was sitting next to an honest to god Viking and he hadn't had the chance to ask any questions. This sucked!

"Is it okay…to…ask you some questions?" Bill asked, reading Eric's mind.

The vampire sat very still for a moment then said," Alright, but I can't guarantee I can answer all of them. We vampires are very private. And I can't stay much longer, so ask."

Lafayette and Sam slid back into their seats with the foil packets clutched in their shirts. "What's up? What are we talking about?" Lafayette asked.

"Mr. Northman can't stay much longer, but he said we could ask him a few questions", Eric explained.

"Do vampires poop?" Amelia asked.

"AMELIA!" Sookie exclaimed at her friend. Bill sat next to Sookie paralyzed with an Oh My God look on his face. He stared at Eric, silently mouthing ,"Do something !"

"He said questions, not STUPID questions!" Eric yelled. What the Hell was wrong with her?

"It's JUST a question! And it's a perfectly natural bodily func…."

"Say you're sorry!" Eric demanded. Fortunately, his voice stayed low and didn't crackle upward, which would have taken away the seriousness of his request.

"I'm not offended," the vampire smoothly interjected, his mouth twitching like he was going to start laughing again. "And no, we don't…poop."

"So, you pee instead?" Lafayette asked, picking up the conversational thread. This made sense to him since blood was a liquid after all. Eric slapped his own forehead from the humiliation.

"No, we have no need to relieve ourselves."

"Then what happens to the…ah…food you eat?" Bill asked, tiptoeing around the fact that the vampire ate blood.

"It is utilized entirely, I assume. There is no waste."

There was silence at the table while the children digested the concept of never using the bathroom, EVER.

Eric was so embarrassed. His friends were being total idiots. They have a chance to ask a Viking vampire questions and they're asking about pooping? The vampire probably thought they were total losers. Eric would ask a question before someone asked something even more moronic.

"You said you were a VIKING," Eric said, glancing seriously around the table to remind his friends who they were dealing with. "Can you tell us anything about that? Or is that …private?" He added politely.

"What did you want to know?"

"Did you wear a helmut with horns like Thor?" Lafayette blurted out.

"Lafayette the Vikings didn't wear horned helmets, that's just some bs someone made up later," Bill interjected. "Right?" he asked, looking at the vampire.

"Correct," the vampire answered. He thought for a moment. "We dressed how you would think people from the Middle Ages dressed. Have you studied that in school?" There were nods at the table. " And as far North as we were, staying warm was the priority. We wore lots of wool , fur, and animals skins."

"Did you ride around on one of those ships with the dragon's heads?" Eric asked.

"Sometimes. A good part of the year, the water was too cold and ice was a problem. But during the warm months, once the slaves had the crops planted, we went raiding."

"You owned slaves?" Sam asked softly.

"Yes, It was common back then. Usually, they were people we had captured during combat.

"That's awful!" Sookie exclaimed.

Bill and Eric froze, wondering if her outburst would anger the vampire. He appeared nonplussed by her reaction. "Like I said, it was common back then and if I had been defeated in battle, I could easily have been taken prisoner and enslaved as well. That was the risk one took."

"Oh," she said softly. Bill gave her shoulder a meaningful little squeeze.

"So, did you fight with swords and stuff?" Eric asked eagerly, trying to get past the discussion of enslaving people who had been dead for hundreds of years, like that mattered now. Eric was pleased to see a smile cross Mr. Northman's face.

"Oh yes," the vampire sighed nostalgically. "And axes and spears ….a couple times I got to use a mace as well."

"What's a mace?" Sam asked.

"It's one of those balls with spikes on it, at the end of chain and attached to a club," Bill explained, then glanced guiltily at the vampire for interrupting.

"Ooooooo, " Sam and Lafayette said.

"Your description is correct," the vampire said."I took it from an enemy combatant in battle, then lost it two weeks later in another battle."

"Did you kill a lot of people?" Eric asked. Then, realizing what he'd just asked, he shrank down in his seat.

The brilliant blue eyes drilled right through him and the white face closed down a little. " I suppose it depends how you define it. We mostly fought hand to hand combat and lacked the means to kill people en masse, like soldiers do nowadays. So, by today's standards, maybe not. But I was considered a good warrior amongst my people, so." He stopped right there and shrugged, so apparently that was all the explanation they were going to receive on that subject.

"Were you married?" Amelia asked, glancing at Eric with a look that said "is that good enough for you?"

"Yes, almost everyone was back then. It was expected."

"How old were you?" she asked curiously.

"I was sixteen, I believe."

"Wow," Eric blurted. He couldn't imagine having to be married…like two years from now?

"What was her name?" Sookie asked softly.

The vampire's left eye started twitching again as he looked at the young blond girl. "Next question," he replied with a smile.

"Did you ever meet anybody famous?" Sam asked. Everyone looked on approvingly. It was a good question.

"Yes, a few, although most of them weren't famous until after they died," the vampire replied.

"Like who?"

"Most of their fame has been lost to time. I think you wouldn't know any of them," he explained. He noticed the disappointed faces around the table and added," I did see Abraham Lincoln once."

"Whoa!" they all exclaimed.

"You saw Abraham Lincoln?" Bill cried out. He suddenly realized how loud he was being, so he lowered his voice and added," for real?"

"Yes, for real," he answered with a smile.

Bill looked like he was going to burst. Where was a pen and paper when you needed it? "Like how ..where..did you…tell us everything!" he demanded, his brown eyes flashing.

"Such a thirst for knowledge, I guess all is not lost for the human race just yet," the vampire laughed. " I saw him late one night at a train station. We were both waiting for the same train and I noticed him right away. It was unusual back then to see men my height."

"Was he wearing that tall hat?" Sam asked.

"Yes, he was wearing the stovepipe hat. I'm surprised I remember this so clearly, but then the war was winding down, everyone knew it would be over soon and he was the President. "

"Did you speak to him?" Bill asked.

"No, but he smiled and touched his hat brim when he spotted me…as if to say…from one tall man to another …"

All the eyes gazing at the vampire were big and round, utterly mesmerized by his little story.

"How did he look?" Sookie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know…did he look happy or sad or…"

"He looked tired and old, as most presidents do after they've been in office, especially after going through a war."

"Oh," she said. "That's so sad."

Mr. Northman shrugged,"That's the nature of the office I guess. You pay a price for accepting it. Any other questions?" He glanced at the clock on the opposite side of the big hall.

"Do you like it better now or were things better a long time ago?" Bill asked. The vampire looked at him with a puzzled expression. "You know, old people are always saying the old days were better..and stuff," Bill added awkwardly.

Mr. Northman smiled again," That's because most people have selective memory of the past. They remember the good things but not the bad…mostly they remember the fact that they were young….. But to answer your question, I wouldn't want to go back. Life is much more pleasant now and this past century has been very exciting."

"What do you think is the coolest invention?" Bill asked, with the tone of someone writing a book report.

"That's easy," the vampire replied. "Plumbing…indoor plumbing especially beats everything else."

"You wouldn't pick airplanes, or cars or, light bulbs …" Bill searched for other ideas.

"Those are conveniences, but they're not necessary for people to live. Being able to manage waste and have clean water to drink is important in building great cities. It's one of the reasons the Romans were as successful as they were And being able to take a warm bath or shower is one of life's simple pleasures," the vampire stated, with a secret smile expanding across his face. The children sat quietly pondering that statement. Bill wished he was recording this. This would make an awesome report for school, talk about instant A+!

"So, we is back to talking about poop," Lafayette stated. Everyone looked at each other, then started laughing, the vampire included. This drew attention from the rest of the people in the great hall as they puzzled over what on earth could be going on at that table.

"I think we've come full circle and it's time for me to go," the vampire said, while rising out of his chair. "This has been more entertaining than I thought it would be." He nodded at the children and was bombarded with a chorus of "it was nice to meet you and thanks for coming" etc. Bill and Eric both stood to walk the vampire back.

Sookie held Bill's hand and looked up at him. "Bill," was all she said.

"But Sookie!" Bill answered, then he sighed. "Oh, alright. It was really cool of you to stop by Mr. Northman, thanks a lot."

The vampire looked down at him with his girlfriend clutching his hand. His face was expressionless as he said," Good luck to you both, goodnight." He nodded at the children, turned and started walking out.

Eric looked at Amelia, hoping she wouldn't be a baby like Sookie clutching on and he hoped she wouldn't ask to come along either. Her answer was a mixed blessing. "I'll see you later," she whispered. My girl and I are going to come visit. I've got something fun planned, you'll see!" That would have sounded promising if Amelia hadn't been saying she was going to bring the leech. Eric gave her hand a squeeze and chased after the vampire who had already gotten to the door and was heading outside with the "chaperone's" trailing at a discreet distance.

Damn, the vampire had long legs, Eric had to do a short sprint to catch up with him. "I'll walk you to the main office," he said.

"Your …girlfriend…does not mind you leaving her?" the vampire asked, gazing down at him with a curious expression.

"Nah, she's not like that," Eric drawled, picking up a long broken branch that had fallen off a tree they were passing. He swung it back and forth in the darkness as they walked. "She's cool. She's not clingy like some girls, always telling guys what to do and who they're allowed to talk to…all that shit."

"Your friend's girlfriend is different." The vampire commented mildly.

"HAH! She owns his ass, ordering him around…..if she was my girlfriend…I'd …."And here Eric stopped, not sure where he was going with that sentence.

"Ah," the vampire responded, nodding to himself. They walked in silence for another minute.

Eric was glad the chaperones had fallen back a bit, so he didn't feel like he had to watch what he said. Then Eric knew what he'd wanted to ask at the table. "Do you LIKE being a vampire? Is it better than being a ..you know…regular person?"

"I am comfortable being who I am. My life has unfolded the way it's unfolded and I don't sit around pondering what ifs. That's a waste of time. You work with what is handed to you."

"Oh," Eric replied in a tiny voice. He took a peek up at the vampire again. The pale hair practically glowed in the dark and the profile stayed facing forward, not looking at Eric, as he answered. "But…if you could CHOOSE…would you have rather been a human?" he asked meekly, hoping he wasn't pushing the vampire's tolerance too far.

The vampire stopped dead in the damp grass. "Then I would have been dead centuries ago and we wouldn't be having this conversation." His blue eyes were hooded in the darkness and the white face was completely still as he looked down at Eric."There are choices we get to make and choices we don't get to make. Your life will be defined by how you handle both. Do you understand?" he asked with no emotion emanating from his voice.

"I think…maybe..I guess so," Eric stammered. "So, you're saying we don't get to choose stuff, that sometimes stuff just happens and we have to man up and deal."

The white face smiled and spoke, this time more gently. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. The path you choose is important, but what's more important is how you deal with the things you don't get a choice in. That will define your life and who you are as a man."

"Okay, I think I get it," Eric replied, a little more confidently. For a second, he almost thought the vampire was going to reach out and touch his shoulder or something. But then, the moment was gone and the vampire's arms stayed down at his sides. They turned as one and kept walking, this time more slowly. The vampire no longer seemed to be in a hurry to leave as he had been a few minutes earlier.

Eric started swinging the long stick at passing trees and bushes, pretending they were enemy combatants. The vampire would probably be really good at video games where you got to slice people up Eric thought. That would be awesome to see. They were nearing the main office which seemed to have every light on inside and outside. Eric couldn't remember having ever seen it like that. He stabbed at a flowered bush.

"Here, let me show you," the vampire's deep voice said. He held his hand out and Eric placed the long stick in it, wondering what he was going to do.

The vampire grasped the long stick with both hands and suddenly it wasn't a stick any longer. It was a long broadsword, poised for battle. He went into a defensive crouch, staring at the flowered bush with complete focus and for one moment the tall body was completely still. Then he lunged at the bush like it was the most dangerous thing he'd ever seen, swinging the stick so fast it made a whistling sound in the night air. He jumped back, his feet kept moving left , right, back and forth. Then he stabbed the evil, dangerous bush again and again and again.

Eric stood with his mouth hanging open, completely mesmerized. This was WAY better than Russell Crowe in Gladiator or what's his face in 300. The vampire could kick both their ass's in Eric's opinion. Flowers were flying off the bush like snow in a blizzard. Eric laughed and jumped for some of the petals.

Just as quickly, the show stopped. The vampire straightened up and the stick was just a stick once more. He handed it back to Eric. "That's how you do it," he said with a smile.

"That was fucking awesome!"Eric exclaimed. "Can all vampires do that?"

"Actually no, we're no different than humans in that each of us has our own gifts and skills. And I grew up handling swords when I was a child. Guns hadn't been invented yet, so I'm comfortable with them. "

"I'll bet you kick ass with guns too," Eric gushed.

"I've learned to shoot them, but I'll never be as good some others. I know a vampire who fought in the Civil War and he's a much better shot than I am. But I'll always be better than him with a sword," the vampire paused and smirked, "no matter how much he practices." And he grinned so wide you could see all his teeth, even his fangs that appeared to be jutting out a little.

They made it up to the porch of the office. A couple of the male counselors had been hanging around the front and they went into the back to get Mr. Benson. He came out as Mr. Northman was signing out on the register.

"Did we have a nice visit?" he asked politely, observing the vampire and Eric carefully.

"Yes, we did. This appears to be a well run facility. You and your staff should be proud of the quality of its operation," the vampire commented.

Mr. Benson's bushy eyebrows rose at the vampire's words and he straightened a bit. "Well, thank you very much. We take great pride in our little facility here and in nurturing the young people who attend. I'm glad your little tour was a pleasant one and I'm sure the boys enjoyed having a visitor."

Mr. Northman nodded towards him and the other counselors. "Good night," is all he said, then he turned to leave. Eric followed, feeling a bit forlorn that the vampire was leaving. He wondered if he would see him again. He wondered if he should ask.

They stepped out into the little field that had served as the parking lot that day. The red corvette's surface was shimmery and dark under the moonlight. Eric decided to ask. "Will we ever see you again?"

"You never know how paths will cross," was the reply.

Well, that was nice and vague. To Eric, it sounded like a big fat NO. He walked slowly next to the vampire with his head hung down.

"Why are you sad? You were in good spirits just moments ago."

"You're leaving," Eric answered, trying not to sound whiny. This was the story of his life, people leaving.

"Are you saying you're going to miss me?" The vampire's deep voice sounded incredulous.

"Yeah…maybe…I guess so…" Eric admitted, not wanting to stick his neck out. He kept his eyes down towards the grass as they got up to the vampire's car.

"That's very strange."

"Huh?"

"I'm not used to people missing me," the vampire said, sounding bemused.

Eric shrugged, unsure if he was being made fun of or not.

The corvette's alarm system made a little beep when the vampire pushed his key fob. As he opened the door, he looked back at Eric. Eric stood with his arms crossed, his head down and glancing up at the vampire through his eye lashes. The vampire paused still, looking at Eric and it seemed like he had something to say. But all that came out was "Good night Eric. I hope you and your friends enjoy the rest of your summer camp."

"Thanks," Eric muttered. The vampire's golden head nodded and he folded himself into the vette. As the powerful engine rumbled to life, Eric gave a little wave. It looked like the vampire waved back through the glass as he pulled away, but it was hard to tell.

As he trod back to the office, he noticed there were several of the counselors waiting on the porch with Mr. Benson. It was like all the tension had been released out of the counselors with the vampire's leaving.

Tim spoke first," That's a sweet car. At least he drives American huh?"

"And he probably DRINKS American too!" one of the other men said. There were some snorting chuckles over that until Mr. Benson's stern gaze quieted them down.

"He behaved like a gentleman and the boy here had a pleasant visit. That's all that matters," Mr. Benson said, running his gaze across his counselor crew like a weedwacker waiting for that dandelion to raise it's little yellow head.

Everyone grudgingly agreed, then one of them said," Hey I video'd him attacking that bush with my cell phone. Anyone want to see?" There was an immediate crowd around him as he played the little video back.

Mr. Benson just sighed tiredly, muttering about the longest day of his life, and turned back towards his office. "Good night Eric."

"Good night Mr. Benson….and uh…?"

The bushy eyebrows rose once more," Yes, Eric?"

"Thanks for letting him stay," Eric mumbled, staring down at his sneakers.

The tanned face smiled. "Don't mention it. You need to head back to your cabin. It's curfew."

"Yes sir," Eric answered and turned to leave the cabin, but first he elbowed his way in between the men to take a peek at the video. It was too dark and the vampire was almost a blur with the petals flying off the bush, you really couldn't see what was going on.

"Do you think I could submit it to one of those websites? You know, the ones that pay for good vamp video?" the cell phone's owner asked.

"Nah," Tim responded. "If I hadn't seen him moving like that with my own eyes, I wouldn't know what the hell I was looking at." Eric said nothing but agreed with the comments around him that supported Tim's statement. As the counselors continued talking excitedly about the evening's events, since Mr. Benson had gone back to his office, Eric slipped outside.

The night seemed really boring all of a sudden. He could hear trees and feel the damp grass as he trod slowly. Amelia's promise of fun later suddenly didn't seem as appealing as it had earlier.

And the walk back to his cabin was much longer without the vampire.

TBC

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_next chapter: relationships start to crash and burn _


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